Realest Guys in the Room
by GateKeeperSyn
Summary: When "Big Cass" turns on "Enzo," Eric realizes it's much more than a storyline. Chaos has forced Bill to turn evil and join his minions. Now Eric is facing a race against time to save his best friend from the dark side. On top of this, NXT Diva and the woman Eric secretly loves, Gracie, is missing and it looks like Bill is to blame. Will he be able to save them? Alternating POVs.
1. Chapter 1

_**AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ _This fic takes place in the same universe as_ Trouble _and_ Deviant, _but it stands alone. You do not need to read those fics to read this one, but the supernatural battle against Chaos they revolve around is also at the center of this story. Other than that, this fic is unrelated to those two. There should not be many spoilers, other than who some of the bad guys are. If you have read the other fics, this one takes place between the two stories, in the present time, right as Big Cass turned on Enzo. This fic will include many flashbacks of things that took place before it began. Those parts will be in italics and will be in the past tense, while the present will be in the present tense to help keep it straight. I hope you enjoy the story..._

 **CHAPTER ONE: PROLOGUE**

 _ **ERIC**_

This is the story of two brothers. There's no blood tie between us, but that ain't what makes a family. My name is Eric, otherwise known as the Certified G and Bonafied Stud, Enzo Amore. My brother is none other than Bill, a.k.a. Big Cass, and he's seven foot tall (okay, more like 6'10, but close enough, am I right?), and you can't teach that!

Anyway, before we were big, bad WWE superstars, we were just two kids who met on a basketball court and formed the most unbreakable bond in history.

 _It was a real nice day out. I was playing basketball, which I was pretty good at if I do say so myself. This kid showed up, and he was pretty huge, and all I could think was,_ Damn, this dude was born to play ball. _I mean, what else does a kid that tall do for fun, right?_

 _These punks who thought they owned the court got in his face. I watched for a minute, wondering how many ways this kid would pummel them. Instead, he stood there, silently taking their crap. Considering I'd seen him shoot, I knew the kid was good. Also, I fucking hated bullies, and I wasn't just gonna watch them pick on this kid._

 _"Get outta here, you fucking loser," one of them said._

 _"I see a loser on the court alright," I chimed in, "but it ain't him."_

 _"Fuck off, Arndt," The punk said._ _These assholes knew me. "Mind your business."_

 _"What? I'm just sayin', at least_ that guy _can score a basket! He's one up on your ass!"_

 _"I scored better than you yesterday, dumbass."_

 _"And I scored with your mom last night. What's your point?"_

 _"What'd you just fucking say?" The punk was ready to kill me._

 _"It's what your mama said that you should be interested in. And she was screaming my name all night long!" I grabbed the ball and shot it into the basket. "That's what it looks like to score, bro."_

 _"You're fucking dead!" He shouted as he came at me. I was pretty sure I was about to get my ass kicked. I was a hell of a fighter, but this guy wasn't small and I'd thoroughly pissed him off. My mouth routinely got me into these situations. I knew the drill... But I was sure as shit gonna go down swinging._

 _Suddenly, right as the punk went for my throat, someone grabbed him and pulled him off of me. "It's not cool to pick on guys who are smaller than you," the big guy said._

 _"Fuck you," the punk retorted._

 _"How original." The big guy rolled his eyes. He let the punk go. The punk, of course, doubled his efforts and tried to attack the big guy. Naturally, I decided it was a good time to tap him on the shoulder and punch that punk in the face._

 _He cursed as blood trickled down from his nose. "I'm gonna fucking kill you!" He insisted. I was pretty sure he was bluffing. Still, I kicked him in his junk for good measure._

 _I was too busy laughing to notice his friend coming for me. Idiot Number Two grabbed me and tried to bash my head in. That's when my new big friend got between us and knocked that guy down on his ass. I laughed harder. When he got up, he took off running, but not before I spanked him on the ass and let out a "whoop" of triumph._

 _The first punk ran after him, not willing to stick around to see what we'd do next. "How you doin'?" I asked the big guy._

 _"Well... That was interesting," he replied._

 _"Never a dull moment with me, Friend. I'm Eric."_

 _"Bill. Thanks for defending me."_

 _"Trash talkin' is my thing. Thanks for saving me from the asskicking of a lifetime."_

 _"Any time, Brother."_

 _I picked up the basketball and bounced it toward him, saying, "Check?"_

 _He smiled and sent it back at me. "Check," he replied. Just like that, we were brothers for life._

I stare at my brother now in confusion. He just followed Corey's lead and went _way_ off-script. Did they rewrite it and not tell me? It's WWE. Sometimes, that does happen. Still, why the fuck is he confessing to being the one who attacked me? It's supposed to be the Revival. Besides, we aren't supposed to break up. Shit, Funko Pop is releasing an Enzo and Cass two-pack soon... It's the wrong time to break us up. What the hell is happening? He's saying shit he'd never say, not even if it were scripted. Bill knows I'm sensitive about a few things, and yet here he is, throwing all my insecurities in my fucking face. Anyone else would do it, sure, but Bill? He'd tell them to change it. He's the farthest thing from a bully... Bill's basically a gentle giant. So, for real, what the fuck is happening? Am I fucking crying? Shit.

The big boot sorta tells me the heel turn is legit. My best friend, my brother has betrayed me. I look into his eyes, and then I know it's so much more... The guy in the ring with me isn't Bill... It's his shell. And it's empty.

 _No,_ I think. _They couldn't have gotten to Bill. He's too smart for them._ But looking at him, I can't deny it. Somehow, the idiots working for that evil son of a bitch Chaos have turned Bill evil... And there's not a damn thing I can do about it right now because we're in front of an audience and I have to sell this. It ain't hard... My heart is literally breaking into a hundred million pieces as I think about what they must have done to him... My brother needs me, and for the first time ever, I have no idea what to do... But I'm damned well going to find a way to save him anyway.

 _ **BILL**_

I'm screaming inside of my own head. The heel turn is bad enough, but I know I have to hurt him... Have to kill him... And I can't let that happen. I'm trying to fight, but it's impossible. What's happening to me? How did I get here?

 _"I need you, Bill!" Leah screamed as soon as I picked up the phone._

 _"What's wrong, Lee?" I asked her._

 _"He's pissed, Billy... He's so fucking pissed. He's going to kill me!"_

 _"Leah, slow down. Who's pissed? What's happening?"_

 _"Chaos..." Her voice cracked with terror. "I tried to leave, like you said, and now he wants me dead!"_

 _"Where are you?" I'd been trying to get Leah to walk away from the dark side for months. She had pretty much sold her soul to get ahead... She wanted to be on top, and she wasn't willing to wait and work her way there. I loved Leah with all my heart, but I couldn't stay with her if she was evil... I should have given up on her, but I couldn't, so I kept trying to save her... I'd finally told her it was them or me, and she'd chosen them... But now, it seemed she'd changed her mind, and I knew he'd kill her if she didn't have protection._

 _"I'll text you the address. Please hurry, Bill. I'm scared!"_

"Oh, Baby," Leah says as I get backstage. She wraps her arms around me and kisses me. I feel nothing. Actually, that's not true. Physically, it's nice... But there are no emotions attached. I figure you have to have a heart and a soul to feel things like that. I no longer have either. "That was _perfect!"_

"It could have been better," I say numbly.

"No, it was great. He's very happy with you... Now we just need to complete the mission. Get rid of the useless little ferret and be done with it."

"I... Leah, no. I... I can't." I am trying to fight. I have to fight... _Why_ am I fighting again?

"He's holding you back, Baby. You know he is."

"He's holding me back," I reply automatically. It is like a script was just set off in my head now, and I can't go off-book. "He must be destroyed."

"That's right, Baby. Kill him. Kill Eric."

 _Eric,_ I think. I hesitate.

" _Enzo_ ," Leah says quickly. "Kill _Enzo_. He's nothing. He's useless. He's holding you back."

Suddenly, I forget everything else. I have a mission. I have to kill Enzo. And I will. Just like I killed the woman he loved. Of course, he doesn't know that yet. I can't wait to throw it in his face and watch the last of his strength shatter. He's so weak... I'm going to enjoy destroying him.

 _ **GRACIE**_

I am so thoroughly screwed... The night of _Money in the Bank,_ I showed up. I'm still an NXT Diva, but Paul's looking to bring me up soon, so he calls me in frequently for dark matches, meet and greet opportunities, or just to observe and learn. I blank for a moment on what happened next... It's hard to retain things where I am... Then it all comes back to me.

 _I got to the arena early because Bill texted and asked me to come see him and Leah. When I got there, I knew something was wrong. To say my "Spidey Senses" were tingling would be an understatement. It was more like my entire body was sent into an instant state of Red Alert. Every hair stood on end. Every instinct in me was screaming to get ready for a fight... But why? I knew Leah was on the wrong side of things, but Bill was one of my two best friends, and he'd never let her hurt me... Not that she could. I'm stronger, both physically and psychically. Also, unlike "Car-mel-la," I actually_ am _a New Yorker. That bitch is from Massachusetts. It's why her accent is so over-the-top. It's fake, just like everything else about her._

 _Leah smiled at me and I was reminded of a snake. "Hey guys," I said cautiously. "What's up?"_

 _"I need to talk to you," Bill said._

 _I saw it then... His eyes were dead. His energy was off. This wasn't Bill, but it was his body. "Bill... Shit, Bill," I whispered. I knew they'd turned him. I'd seen it before. I should have run, but this was Bill... I couldn't just leave him._

 _He lunged at me. I ducked out of the way. Leah continued smiling as he attacked me, but she didn't make a move to help him. They were testing him. They were trying to see if they truly had full control over him._

 _"Bill, don't do this," I begged him. "This isn't you."_

 _I saw the slightest bit of recognition in his eyes. "Gracie..." He whispered. "Kill me."_

 _I shook my head. "I can't do that, Bill," I said softly. "We're in this together, till the end. Remember?"_

 _"I'll kill you."_

 _"You won't."_

 _"I have to. And Eric, too."_

 _"You're still in there, Bill. I don't know how, but you're not like the others he's turned."_

 _"I can't fight it... Not for long."_

 _"Kill her, Baby!" Leah shouted as she realized he'd stopped attacking me. "Do it!"_

 _"Gracie... Run..."_

 _I tried, because I knew this was it. He was about to lose control. Unfortunately, it happened too quickly, and Bill is stronger than me. He hit my head so hard, it sent me flying into a wall. He pinned me to it and systematically began beating the hell out of me. Bill, the man who would never so much as put his hands on a woman, was going to beat me to death, and_ slowly _at that._

Clarity, _I thought._ He just needs clarity.

 _I tried to focus through the pain in my head to reach out to Brian Myers. Like his current Curt Hawkins gimmick, Brian can actually force people to "face the facts." What I mean is, he has the remarkable gift of giving anyone whose mind Chaos has invaded instant clarity with a touch of his hand. Unfortunately, I suddenly remembered that Brian was back home in New York because his wife had just given birth to their first baby. He wasn't an option._

 _More pain than I could process shot through my body. I was out of time. Bill was going to kill me. I had exactly one option left, and it was risky with my head injury. Still, it beat certain death, so I gave it a shot._

 _I focused as best as I could and astral projected out of my body. I watched as Bill's shell (because it wasn't really Bill in there) continued pounding his fists against my shell (because the lights were on in my body, but no one was home) and Leah laughed like a hyena in heat. I was safe for now. I have a protection spell on my body that prevents it from dying if I'm not inside. What should have killed me left my body in a magickal coma instead, and with any luck, I'd be able to heal before I slipped back in. If I ended up back in my body too soon, the damage would still kill me._

 _I felt a portal open behind me and I stumbled into another realm. I wasn't in the world of the living, but I wasn't dead either... I was stuck in-between._

I curse as I realize what happened. I'm not sure how much time has passed, and I have no idea where the hell my body is. My body is essentially trapped in a state of eternal sleep like I'm some Goddamned Disney Princess and I have no idea how to find my way back.

The evil Egyptian God of Chaos, whose name no one ever uses (he's like _Voldemort_ ), suddenly appears. He laughs at me. "I was wondering why your body wasn't quite dead yet," he says. "What an impressive parlor trick. Let's fix that, shall we?"

"Nah, that's cool," I say casually. "I think I'll pass."

"You can't hide forever."

"Who's hiding? I just decided to go for a walk."

He tries to lunge at me. I know if my soul dies, it won't matter what happens to my body because I'll never return to it. I close my eyes and wait for Chaos to get closer to me before I stab him with my favorite astral weapon, a sword I can actually summon on the earthly plain, too. Her name is Brooklyn, because she's as badass as the borough I call home.

Chaos curses at the unexpected attack. It won't kill him, but it sure as fuck hurts the son of a bitch. I open a portal and dive into it with no clue where I'll end up. It doesn't matter, because anywhere is better than here.

I look around and realize I recognize nothing. The asshole is right; I can only run for so long. I'm going to need to reach out for help, but with my head as injured as it is, the only people who might hear me are Bill, who's not an option, and Eric, who is currently in very real danger. I'm going to have to try soon, but for now, I need to gather my strength. I pray Eric is safe. I don't know what I'll do if anything happens to him, but I do know one thing... If we lose Eric, we're never going to get Bill back.

 _ **AUTHOR'S NOTE:**_ _Thanks for reading! I hope you enjoyed the first chapter. There's plenty more to come. Reviews are greatly appreciated._


	2. Chapter 2

**CHAPTER TWO**

 _ **BILL**_

 _I was going to die. Literally, one way or another, this was the end for me. I hadn't known that when I showed up. All I knew was Leah was terrified and she needed my help. As soon as I'd arrived, however, I was ambushed. Thomas, better known as Baron Corbin, walked out of the shadows with Stephanie McMahon, who smiled at me with the most evil grin I'd ever seen in my life._

 _"It's okay, Baby," Leah insisted. "You don't have to be afraid... I found a way for us to stay together."_

 _"Leah... You know where I stand," I said._

 _"I do... But he made me a deal, Bill. All I have to do is remove your pesky morals and nothing will keep us apart ever again."_

 _"Lee... Please, this isn't the way."_

 _"Just stop fighting it, Baby. Everything will be okay."_

 _Thomas came closer to me. I saw the ritual blade in his hand and I knew what this must be, but my mind refused to believe it. Leah wouldn't do that to me... She couldn't... She loved me._

 _As Thomas attacked, I fought back. I had no choice. He'd kill me without hesitation. I knew that. When Stephanie got in my face, I dodged her blows, but I didn't touch her. Evil or not, she was still a woman, and I was well aware of the fact that, very deep down, the sweet, naive girl who'd once lived in fear of her father still existed. Chaos had given Stephanie the power she needed to stand against her father, and honestly, I couldn't hold her choice to take him up on it against her. There was a time when WWE's greatest source of evil was Vince McMahon. Stephanie had turned evil simply to survive._

 _"What's the delay?" A new voice asked. It was Raj, and that's when I knew I was in real trouble. Jinder Mahal was no joke. The guy was built like he lived entirely off of steroids. He was also one of the most powerful minions Chaos had ever recruited. Raj had once been a powerful force of good, fighting at Drew and Heath's side. Although 3MB had been a complete joke in WWE, in the battle against Chaos, they were three of the strongest warriors. When Drew and Raj got released, Raj was furious Heath still had his job. His jealousy alienated him from Heath. Drew proceeded to absolutely blow up on the indies. If there was a title to be had, Drew Galloway went and won it. He had six titles at any given point, and he defended them all internationally, bringing a prestige and recognition to companies no one had heard of before that. Drew McIntyre might have fallen into being a bad comedy character, but Drew Galloway quickly reminded the world why he'd once been Vince's Chosen One. This had led Raj to completely lose it, and once he cut Drew out, too, he was vulnerable. Chaos influenced him with promises of success that Drew and Heath would never see, and here he was a short time later, the face of the WWE. The fans were stunned when Raj defeated Randy for the title, but we wrestlers all knew the horrible things Raj had done to get to the top._

 _"He's fighting," Thomas said._

 _"Well, wouldn't_ you?" _Raj asked. "Idiot. Who wouldn't fight having their heart and soul ripped out? Get on it. He's coming."_

 _I knew I was screwed now. Chaos was going to turn me. Very few people escaped once he decided to do that. My only chance was Colby. When Seth Rollins had turned on the Shield, it hadn't just been a storyline. He was the very first person Chaos had ever forcibly turned evil. Colby, once full of light, purity, and everything good in this world, had been murdered and resurrected without his heart or his soul. He'd been tortured leading into it, and it had taken most of the minions to pull it off. Team Good had been left with no idea what the hell happened as Colby attacked his Shield brothers with a brutality no one thought he could possess. He'd proceeded to do a lot of other horrible things before Joe (Roman Reigns) did what Dean could not bring himself to and killed him. They'd ultimately found a way to reverse it, but Colby had never fully recovered. His light was forever tainted. Being the first, however, had given Colby the unique gift to sense when others were about to be turned. He'd saved a lot of people from sharing his fate._

 _"Uh-uh-uh..." Leah said to me. "Team Telepath is nice and blocked from hearing you right now."_

 _I cursed silently. That meant both Colby and Randy were no longer options. In desperation, I tried to split myself. If I could keep even a small part of my mind separate, maybe it wouldn't work on me. Sure, I might die and stay that way, but that was better than becoming a monster._

 _"Hold him down," Stephanie said. Thomas and Raj held me tightly. I couldn't move no matter how hard I tried._

 _"I'll do the deed," Thomas offered._

 _"No. This is Leah's test," Stephanie said._

 _Leah took the ritual blade from Thomas. "Lee..." I whispered in desperation. "Please... Please don't do this."_

 _"Shhh..." Leah said. "It'll all be over soon, and everything will be fine. I love you, Baby." With that, Leah plunged the blade into my chest._

 _"No!" Someone screamed. Leah jumped and pulled the knife back out. The wound wasn't that deep yet. I was confused. I knew the voice of my rescuer. I also knew what side she was on. I watched as Nikki Bella pulled Thomas off of me. She proceeded to kiss him hard before tossing him aside. She grabbed Raj and did the same thing to him. I stared at her, not understanding._

 _"Nikki, what the hell are you doing?" Stephanie demanded._

 _"What I have to," Nikki said. She then pulled Stephanie into her arms and kissed her, too. That kiss lasted slightly longer until Stephanie collapsed._

 _"Run!" Nikki screamed at me. She suddenly trapped Leah in a waterfall. As Thomas stirred, she flung one at him, too. She then grabbed Raj and I watched in shock as she not only physically restrained him with impossible strength, but proceeded to turn her entire body into flames that didn't seem to hurt her, but clearly burnt Raj as he screamed in agony._

 _I tried to get up as I stared at her in confusion. "Bill! Run! I can't hold them off for long!" She shouted._

 _"How are you doing that?" I asked._

 _"I'm a succubus, and a personal skill of mine is that I can temporarily use the powers of anyone I feed on. It works better if I have sex with them, but kissing has to be enough right now. Just go, okay? Get out of here. He's coming. I feel him."_

 _"Nikki... I can't just leave you."_

 _"I made my choice, Bill. Don't let it be for nothing!"_

 _I knew I had to run, so I tried. Unfortunately, I ran straight into Luke Harper. "What the hell is going on?" He demanded._

 _Nikki bashed Raj's head into a wall and knocked him out. She then lit herself on fire again. I could tell how scared she was, but she was ready to keep fighting. Harper hit me with a spell that felt like a truck. I hit the ground. He proceeded to grab Nikki._

 _"You're going to pay for this betrayal, Nicole," he promised darkly. And then, he summoned Chaos._

 _"What is the delay?" Chaos asked._

 _"Your pet succubus has betrayed you, Master," Harper said. "I can kill her if you like."_

 _"No," Chaos said. I couldn't even begin to describe the panic his mere presence was stirring in me. I'd never felt anything quite so evil before. "I have other plans for her. If she wants to lie to herself and think she can be a savior, then she shall be treated as such. Take her to the punishment room, Harper. I shall deal with her later." With a wave of his hand, he broke all of Nikki's spells. Nikki fell to the ground with a scream._

 _As Harper dragged Nikki off, Chaos stood over me. Raj and Thomas resumed restraining me. Leah picked up the knife. "Now, my dear," Chaos said to her. "Finish what you began."_

 _Leah didn't even hesitate. She plunged the knife back in, deeper this time, and literally tore my heart from my chest. My mind officially fully snapped as I clung to the smallest shred of my sanity._

I look at the figure before me now and hardly recognize her. Nikki is nailed to a cross. She is too pale and I can sense how weak she is. "Nikki..." I whisper as I remember why she ended up here. "I'm sorry."

"No, Bill... _I'm_ sorry," she says weakly. "I tried."

"Why? Why would you betray him, knowing what would happen?"

"Remember that day we went overseas and did that Tribute to the Troops show?"

"No... Maybe. My memory isn't great."

"It's the spell... Your soul remembers. Let me remind you." She sighed. "After the show, I got cornered by some very drunk soldiers who got too hands-on. I could have handled myself, as a succubus, but you didn't know that... And the second you saw them pin me against a wall and grope me, you stepped in and defended me. You saved me. You knew I was one of the bad guys. You knew I didn't deserve help... But you saved me anyway. You didn't even hesitate."

"I did?" It's hard to imagine that now. Had I really been that heroic? Why? There was nothing to gain, and I could have been fired for getting into a fight with the soldiers...

"You did. And I never forgot that act of kindness. No one else would have done that for me... Except, maybe, for John. I swore to myself I'd pay you back if I could... And when I saw you there, defenseless and about to be turned into a monster, I decided I couldn't let that happen, consequences be damned."

She looks exhausted. "He's starving you," I realize. "You're a succubus. You have to feed... Kiss me, Nikki. It'll help."

She looks at me sadly. "Even turned, you're still so sweet..." She sighs. "You can't help me, Bill. I feed on souls. You don't have one anymore."

She's right. I nod, forced to accept her answer. Nikki is only here because she tried to save me, but I can't return the favor. "Go on," she says. "He'll be angry if he sees you here. I'll be okay, Bill. He'll release me eventually. I can take it for now."

I leave because I have no choice. I am supposed to go meet Leah, so I do. It's time to plan out how I'm going to kill Enzo.

 _ **ERIC**_

The time for crying is over. I'm ready to fight. I head straight to the top, the unofficial and extremely reluctant leader of Team Good. "Dean," I say. "We gotta talk."

"Shit, Eric, are you okay? Colby and Randy have been out looking for you since yesterday," Dean replies.

"I needed some alone time."

"It's not safe for you to be alone right now. You're probably Bill's top target."

"Bring it. Maybe I can slap some sense into him."

"Nah, that's Brian's job... He picked a hell of a time to go on paternity leave."

"The guy's entitled to some time off. He works harder than pretty much anyone."

"I know. I just wish the kid had waited a week to make her debut."

"Look, I need a plan... And backup would be nice."

"We recalled Cody for this. That's our plan. He's on his way."

"Cody's got indy gigs."

"He's got a couple of days off until the weekend. And without Brian, we gotta do this the old fashioned way."

Cody Rhodes is the only reason we got Colby back. His soul is actually an Egyptian God of the Underworld. He is one of the only people in existence who can reverse the process Chaos uses to turn pure people evil, and it only works if he has the canopic jars the person's heart and soul are stored in. Saving Colby had damn near killed him and shattered his mind. That's how Stardust happened...Cody's mind briefly snapped and Stardust was born. Anyway, he's gotten better at it, but it's still a lot of work for him. Also, Cody technically belongs to the indies now... But he'll never abandon us when we truly need him in this battle.

"Okay. So Cody's in. Who else?" I ask.

"Joe and I are going after his soul. We can't risk Colby, so whether he likes it or not, he's helping purely telepathically," Dean says. "Drew and Heath are with us. We think Raj and Paul are sharing custody of the soul jar, and none of us can take Raj on except those two."

"Would Paul do that?"

"Of his own choice? No. But Steph's got his nuts in a jar and keeps taking control of his mind, and especially without Brian here to give him clarity with daily head slaps, he's totally at her mercy. And Chaos knows he's the last person we'd suspect of holding a jar."

"You're right."

"Where Joe goes, his cousins follow, so we'll have the Usos, and that probably means Trinity, too. Nattie came to me as soon as she saw the heel turn. She wants in. And Stephen will probably come because he won't let Drew go without him."

I nod. Stephen, better known as Sheamus, is Drew's best friend. "That sounds like a good team," I say.

"It gets better. Remember my friend, the Goddess? She wants to come play."

I laugh. "They're screwed."

"Extremely. Anyway, another team's going after the heart. We're pretty sure Harper's got it. Randy's leading that team. Jules is going with him." Jules is the third member of Team Telepath. She's not a wrestler, so she's not always around, but she is stuck in Randy and Colby's heads twenty-four-seven. (Oh, that poor girl!) I know she's a powerful witch.

"Who else?" I ask.

"Cody, of course. Randy's not letting him out of his sight on such a dangerous mission. Also, since it's Harper, Bray's going with them. That means Rowan and Taylor, too." Rowan's name is Joseph, but that's too close to Joe, so we usually use his ring name. No one calls Bray by his real name, Windham, except for his little brother Taylor, otherwise known as Bo Dallas. (Can you Bo-lieve those two are related?) Dean continues, "Pam insisted on helping because it's Bill, so Fergal's a given. Lexy jumped on board, too." He pauses. "There's a slot left if you're up to it, Eric. Randy already expected you to want in on this."

"Let's see... Me, Randy Orton, a super witch, Cody Rhodes, Bray Wyatt, Erick Rowan, Bo Dallas, Bayley, Finn Balor, and Alexa Bliss against Luke Harper? I like those odds."

"Pam, Fergal, Lexy, and Taylor will be hanging back as much as possible. They're all super high on his list of pure hearts he'd love to turn. Randy's asked that you keep a close eye on them especially."

"I can do that."

"Good. Tomorrow's the summer solstice. It's the strongest day for the Light and we're pretty sure it's our best shot. Are you ready?"

"To save Bill? Hell yes, I'm ready."

"Okay. Touch base with Randy. I'll see you later, when the deed is done. After we get the canopic jars, Cody's going to do his thing and hopefully still be functional enough that it's not Stardust who competes for the Ring of Honor title this weekend."

I laugh at that visual. "But it's the cosmic key!" I say.

Dean shakes his head. "Good luck."

"Thanks," I reply. Some of the nervousness I'm feeling slips into my voice.

"We'll save him, Eric. I promise," Dean says as he notices this.

I nod and Dean walks away. I know we'll save Bill. There simply isn't another choice.

 _ **GRACIE**_

I finally break through. "Eric!" I shout.

He looks up, startled. "Great, now _I'm_ hearing voices," Eric mumbles.

"Eric!" I shout again.

"Gracie?" He asks in confusion. "Gracie, where are you?"

"I'm stuck," I say. "I'm in-between."

He seems more confused. "Between? What does that mean?" He asks, and I realize he's only partially hearing me.

"Bill's been turned! You're in danger!" I try.

"Bill... Yeah, I know what happened. Gracie... Why weren't you at Money in the Bank? I tried to call you, but you didn't answer... Are you okay?"

"Bill," I say urgently.

"What? No... No, Bill wouldn't hurt you..."

"Eric, help me! I'm stuck between and you're in danger!"

"Help... Danger? Are you in trouble, Gracie? Where are you?"

I sigh. With all of the energy I can find, I reach across realms and move a pen with my mind, scribbling a note on his hand. _Bill was turned. You're in danger. Stuck between, body dying, can't find it. Help._

Eric curses. "I'll find you, Gracie... I promise. So don't you fucking die on me, okay?" He looks terrified, but at least now he knows what's going on.

I feel myself starting to fade from sudden exhaustion. I fall uncontrollably and end up at the Performance Center. To keep myself from continuing to fall and possibly ending up back in my body, I tether myself to the first thing I can touch, a talisman in Drew Galloway's pocket. I realize I'm safe for the moment before everything goes black.

 _ **ERIC**_

I'm freaking out. Bill hurt Gracie...Bill may have killed Gracie, unless I can save her... This isn't okay in the slightest. I close my eyes and try to breathe.

 _Bill and I were working on planning our match with Leah. I looked up as I felt something in the room shift. There stood the most gorgeous thing I'd ever seen. Her hair was black with two purple streaks on either side of the front of her head and her eyes were bright blue. I caught a glimpse of a pentagram tattooed at the base of her neck. She wore a tiger's eye wrapped in a silver spiral as a necklace. Everything about this girl screamed magick, and I was totally enchanted._

 _"Excuse me," she said politely. "Do you know where Hunter is today?"_

 _I realized she must be a new NXT recruit. Paul Levesque, a.k.a. Triple H, made all the new people call him Hunter._

 _"He's not here yet," Bill said._

 _"Come back later," Leah added. I could feel the jealousy oozing off of her._

 _"Nah, stay," Bill said obliviously. "You can keep us company."_

 _"Thanks," she said as she sat down beside me._

 _"Hi," I said lamely. "I'm Eric. That's Bill and Leah."_

 _"We met," Leah said. "This is Grace Marie. She's new."_

 _"What a beautiful name," I said._

 _"Thanks, but it's kayfabe. My real name is Grace Louisa Cinelli. Can I_ get _any more Italian?" She laughed, and I was in love. "Everyone calls me Gracie."_

 _"Nice to meet you, Gracie," Bill said. "That accent sounds like we're from the same place."_

 _"Bite your tongue, Mr. Met! I'm not from Queens._ Brooklyn's _my home."_

 _I laughed. To a non-New Yorker, Queens and Brooklyn are basically the same thing, but trust the Jersey Boy here... They're totally different worlds. Queens, home of the Mets, is cool, in your face, and slightly crazy, but once you meet Brooklyn, you realize Queens is just her tamer cousin, and Brooklyn's the nutjob running around town with a machete and a baseball bat for no apparent reason._

 _We kept talking and I was crushing hard, but I kept that to myself. In spite of talking tough, Gracie was a nerd at heart. She was obsessed with_ Harry Potter _and comic books. She cosplayed. She went to comic cons. She played video games better than Mr. Up-Up-Down-Down, Austin, a.k.a. Xavier Woods. All-in-all, Gracie was an epic geek who somehow made that look extremely cool. Over the next couple of years, Gracie would become our best friend, and I would fall completely and totally in love with her. Leah hated her, but she tolerated her because Bill and I were so attached. Truth be told, Leah was jealous because Gracie fit in with us better than she did._

I shake my head, trying not to think about my memories of Gracie too much. What if that's all I get? What if she dies before I get the chance to tell her I love her? I can't let that happen. I have to find her, and save her, and I also have to save Bill. It looks like I have a lot of work ahead of me.


	3. Chapter 3

**CHAPTER THREE**

 _ **ERIC**_

We're standing together about three minutes away from the building where we're fairly certain Bill's heart is being held hostage. All of us have arrived except for one person, but I see him running over to us now.

"Cody…" Randy says. He pulls him into a quick brother hug. I can tell Randy's nervous. Several of the others hug Cody, too.

"How are you holding up, Eric?" Cody asks me.

"I'm okay… I'll be better when this is over and done with, but I'm fine to be here," I say.

He nods. "Let's do this, guys. Everyone, be careful, and remember… We've got this," he says.

"Okay. Let's go. Pam, Lexy, Taylor… Stay to the back, alright? You guys are the backup team with Eric and Fergal. Taylor, you're here in case we need a healer. Don't take any stupid risks, alright?" Randy asks. He's flipped the switch now and turned into Marine Randy. That only happens in emergencies, but no one questions his authority when it does.

"Aye-aye, Boss," Taylor says seriously.

"Bray and Rowan will take the lead. They're the ones best equipped to track Harper. I'll be right behind them. Jules, for the love of God, _stay behind me._ I don't want that son of a bitch getting anywhere near you."

"I know what I'm doing," Jules says patiently.

"I know you do… But you're the only one here who can't fight physically, and I'm not risking your safety unnecessarily. Cody, you're our Ace in the Hole. He's never going to expect you to be here. I need you to stay hidden as much as possible, and cover Jules when she starts casting. I'm going to cover her, too, but I can only do so much because I need to keep an eye on everyone else, too."

"I've got her, Randy," Cody promises.

"Alright. Let's go." Randy motions for Bray and Rowan to take the lead. The rest of us follow him.

"This is so _exciting,"_ Pam says. "I've never been on one of these recovery missions before."

"Ya best stay behind me, Pammy," Fergal says. "I'll keep ya safe."

"I can defend myself, you know," Pam reminds him.

"Sure, but yer on tha top of his list, m'dear lass. I can't risk him getting his claws on ya."

"You two need to get married already," Lexy teases them. "And relax, Fergal. I've got her back, too. We're in this together. Let him try… Come at me, bro!"

I have to cover my mouth not to burst out laughing. Little Miss Alexa Bliss is a lot tougher than you might think. I'd sort of like to see what would happen if Chaos or any of his minions actually tried to get their hands on her. She'd make them regret it.

We fall silent as we spot the building. Bray and Rowan enter first. Randy waits a minute before following them, and the rest of us are right behind him. The door closes and I can feel how dark this place is and I'm positive evil is lurking around every corner. I take a deep breath and prepare myself for the fight we're about to face.

"Welcome!" A voice declares grandly. "We've been expecting you!"

I look up and see that Harper is standing above us on some scaffolding. He grins wickedly and allows us to take in the scene. He's not alone. Thomas stands beside him, and I sense more people lurking in the shadows. We've just walked into a trap, but we didn't really have a choice. We have to find Bill's heart.

"Let's settle this like men, Luke," Bray says. He uses that name because no one calls Luke Harper by his actual name, Jon Huber. We all call him Harper except for Bray, who sometimes uses Luke to connect to him on a stronger level.

Harper laughs. "Alright. I can come down to your level if you need me to." He literally levitates down to the floor. It's a pretty neat parlor trick.

Thomas scowls at us before climbing down the ladder that leads up to the scaffolding. Apparently, he doesn't have the power to float yet. Aw, poor baby bad guy! I wonder if I should offer him a hug and decide against it. This one time, I know better than to run my mouth. There's too much at stake.

Some of the other goons show themselves. I recognize Adam, better known as Braun Strowman. I'm not surprised he's here. He's Harper's favorite sidekick. I notice James Ellsworth and see Lexy foaming at the mouth. I suspect she's dying to get her hands on him, and honestly, I'd really like to see her kick his ass because _that's_ entertainment! Come on, WWE Creative! Book that shit right now!

I stop registering who's there as Harper flings a spell at us with such force, it knocks the back half of us against the wall. Fergal puts his arms out to catch Pam before she can hit her head on the wall. I'm impressed with his reflexes. Lexy manages to stop herself from getting injured. I can't say the same for me, as my body hits the wall hard. I'm okay, but I know I'll be bruised later. Taylor stops just short of landing right on top of me.

Adam and James come for our group. We hadn't quite expected that, but it's okay. I can fight, and Fergal's one tough son of a bitch. I know we can handle this. Taylor's not push-over either. I expect Lexy to throw the first punch, but I'm stunned when it's actually Pam. She hits Adam square in the nose as he tries to grab Lexy. Adam cries out in pain and James starts laughing at him as Pam proceeds to kick his legs out and knock him to the floor.

"You got your ass kicked by _Bayley!"_ James declares. "What a fucking _loser!"_

That's when Lexy attacks him. She jumps on his back and hits him with what is essentially a backstabber. James lets out a girlish scream and hits the floor as she jumps off of him. She smiles in satisfaction and I start laughing.

"I'm sorry, _which_ one of you was the loser?" I ask. I follow that up with, "How ya doin'?"

I look up when I realize that the other group is struggling. Bray and Rowen have Harper backed into a corner. Bray's mumbling spells in a language I've never heard before, but I can feel death everywhere. He's got an affinity for it. Rowan is literally raising energy and creating balls of fire in his hands. Maybe WWE should hire him to advertise _Great Balls of Fire,_ because it's kind of awesome to watch. He proceeds to throw one after the other at Harper until one finally gets past Harper's shields and singes his beard. Harper's eyes go even wider and crazier than usual like Rowan has just committed the ultimate offense. (The Wyatts don't play when it comes to their beards!) He tilts his head to the side and part of the ceiling actually collapses, pinning Rowan beneath the rubble. Bray looks horrified, but he can't stop chanting now. He has to keep his spell going or Harper will only get stronger.

"Shit!" I curse. "You guys got this?" I ask Fergal.

"I think tha lasses have it just fine," he replies with a laugh. "Go. I'll cover tha girls and Taylor."

I nod and join the others. Fergal's a warrior and he has serious power behind him magickally. I know he can handle protecting our group for a few while I try to dig Rowan out from beneath the pieces of the ceiling.

I start pulling pieces away. Randy hesitates as he looks back at Jules. "I'm fine," she says. "Go help him." I see her looking at him intently and know that they're doing their Team Telepath thing and continuing the conversation in silence. My best guess is she's pointing out that she still has Cody with her. Randy finally nods and comes over to help me.

The pieces are heavier than I expected them to be. I'm glad Randy's come to help. I just hope that Rowan hasn't been killed. Most people would have been, but Rowan is definitely _not_ most people. We finally find him and he looks dead, but he groans.

"He's okay," Randy tells me. "Take him to Taylor."

I nod and we both help Rowan stand back up. He's completely unsteady. Bray looks at me and mouths, _Thank you_ before he goes back to chanting. I realize he's pretty freaked out. Rowan is a bit of an enigma. It took us over a year to figure out which side he was actually on in this battle. Most of us still can't figure him out, but Bray gets beyond all of that. They're very close.

"He's hurt bad," I tell Taylor. "With how badly he got crushed, I'd guess he's got internal bleeding."

Taylor nods. "I've got him," he says. He begins healing Rowan's wounds. I'm impressed as I watch them fade away. Taylor only learned how to work his abilities a couple of years ago, but he's become one of the strongest healers out there since. We're lucky we have him here. Rowan might not have survived otherwise.

My attention is drawn back to the others as Randy deflects an attack from Thomas. Suddenly, Harper's eyes roll into the back of his head. We all feel the energy shift.

"Shit… Shit, shit, _shit,"_ I say. I'm a man of many words.

"Is that…?" Lexy asks.

"Chaos!" Fergal confirms. He immediately jumps in front of Taylor, Rowan, Lexy, and Pam. "Get behind me, Eric," he says.

"No way. Someone's got to have your back while you have everyone else's," I say.

Fergal doesn't fight me as I stand by his side. I watch as Randy moves beside Jules and Cody. Bray's by himself with Harper, but he's not the one Chaos is interested in. I see it coming seconds before it does, but there's no time to do anything.

Chaos lunges straight at Jules with his claws out and his fangs bared. Suddenly, Cody jumps in front of her. Jules screams and Cody hits the ground as Randy cries out, " _Cody!"_ His voice is filled with so much terror that _I'm_ scared. Nothing gets to Randy like that, but I know Cody is like his kid brother.

Chaos is all over Cody. He claws his back with his venom-filled claws so many times, I lose count. His teeth come down and bite open his side. There's blood everywhere. There is absolutely no way that Cody is still alive…

Pam is crying in Fergal's arms now. Lexy's hysterical, too, and so is Taylor, but he's still trying to finish helping Rowan. Rowan puts a hand on his arm and says, "I'm good. Save your strength."

Randy is completely frozen in shock. He's a sitting duck, and even though Jules casts a super strong spell, she can't take on Chaos herself. I know they're both completely fucked if we don't do something to help them.

I feel the room shift. Suddenly, an army of shadows attacks Chaos. He jumps back, confused, and Cody is left on the floor. I turn around for a second and realize Fergal just sent his demonic army after him. Fergal's Demon King gimmick isn't just kayfabe, but they're not evil. They're actually kind of cute, when he's not using them to attack the bad guys.

Jules moves first, pulling Cody into her arms. "Cover me," she says to Randy.

He stares at her, seemingly not understanding, and I know he's still in shock. I'm about to go over to try to help when she says, "Randy! _Cover me._ I've got him. I can fix this. Just cover us, alright?"

He snaps out of it then and nods slowly. He's flipped the switch again, and the warrior I see in front of me is more impressive than I knew he could be. The intensity he guards them with now is beyond anything I thought he could possess and I realize Randy's a lot more powerful than I even knew.

I watch as Jules grabs a sharp piece of the ceiling that fell close to her and uses it to slit her wrist open. I know that sounds bad, but hear me out. Jules is one of only two people who can save someone with venom in their veins. Her blood, as well as the blood of the Egyptian Goddess Serqet, can cure any poison, including his venom. The problem is, Cody's been hit with more venom than I've ever seen anyone get hit with before.

"Jules… You'll bleed out," I tell her.

"He just saved my life!" She tells me. "I know what I'm doing. I trust him." She proceeds to force her blood into his mouth. I know it's cleansing his blood, but I have no idea if it will be enough to save him.

After what feels like an eternity, Cody moans. His eyes flutter open. He looks at Jules and says, "Enough."

"No. There's still too much in you," Jules tells him. "You'll die."

"Jules… You're bleeding to death."

"I'm okay."

"You won't be soon."

"We'll worry about that then." She looks faint. Cody continues to consume her blood until he's finally breathing better.

"Jules. _Stop_. I'm okay."

"It's… Still too much," she tells him, but she does pull her wrist away. I think she knows she's about to kill herself.

"The elixir," Cody says. "I can use that to fix the rest. It'll work for me."

She nods. "Okay," she says.

Cody pulls out the sacred vial of Egyptian elixir from the underworld and puts a few drops on his tongue. That seems to do the trick. He looks at her. "Jules… You need it, too," he tells her.

"I'm… Alright, fine." She lets him give some to her and I know she must be in bad shape to have accepted it. " _Michael!_ " Jules shouts. I don't know what the heck she means until all of a sudden, a portal opens up. Chaos is sucked into it and flung… Well, he could be anywhere, really. Michael once sent the whole team to Canada just because he could. Michael, by the way, used to be Derrick Bateman in WWE… But you probably know him much better as EC3 from TNA. He's not on the WWE team, but he's one of the strongest weapons against Chaos, so he helps us out sometimes when we're _really_ screwed.

Harper finally gets by Bray's magick. He runs to the next room and I know the idiot's about to lead us right to Bill's heart. This is it. I look at Cody. His entire back is shredded to bits. I can't understand how he's still standing.

"Taylor!" Bray calls. "Taylor, we need you!"

Taylor runs over. He looks at Cody's back and turns completely white. After a second, he tells Cody to lay on his stomach and holds his hands over his back. He closes his eyes and I can tell how much magick he's summoning right now. Pam takes his hand and starts lending him some of her magick. She's an empath and a powerful one. She's also a healer, although she's nowhere near Taylor's level.

"Are you alright?" Bray asks Rowan.

"Mostly," Rowan replies.

Bray nods. "Taylor, ground yourself to me," Bray says. He takes Taylor's other hand. Now, with three people working on him, Cody's back begins to visibly mend. We need Bray to go after Harper, but considering Cody's nearly dead, I understand why he can't. Like his brother, Bray can heal, although his magick works differently. Taylor's is completely light, while Bray's is much darker. Still, they work well together, and Pam provides a nice balance to them.

"I'll watch over them," Fergal says. "Take Rowan and go after the heart."

Randy nods. "He's right. Come on. We have to finish this," he says.

"I'm going with you," I say. He doesn't protest.

When we get to the room, Harper is clinging to the canopic jar. "Come and get it," he dares us.

It's Jules who replies. "Why bother?" She asks. "You're going to give it to us."

"Excuse me? Did you hit your head, sweetheart?"

I watch as Jules focuses on Harper. Randy raises an eyebrow before doing the same and I realize that Team Telepath is breaking their Number One Rule… Thou shalt not use thy powers to control the actions of others. Apparently, watching Cody almost die has made both of them lose their damn minds. I'm highly amused because usually, it's Colby who crosses that line while the two of them slap his hand and tell him he's been bad.

Harper struggles for a moment before walking toward us. He hands the jar over to Jules. She clutches it to her chest and I know she's ready to protect it with her life. Harper then walks over to Rowan. I watch as Rowan hits him hard in his head and knocks him out.

"Let's get the fuck out of here," Jules says. I think that's an excellent idea. I touch the jar, and she lets me because she knows how much Bill means to me. "He'll be okay," she promises. "Once Cody's stronger, he'll be able to fix his heart."

I hate that we're going to have to wait, but I understand why we do. Cody did the only thing he could do, and he's a hero. I can't be pissed at him for that.

I'm stunned when we return to the others and I see that Cody's back now just looks like it has a bunch of scratches on it. They're barely even visible. "That's amazing," I say.

Cody sees the jar and smiles. "I knew we'd get it!" He says. "Sorry I'm down for the count… I promise I'll fix his heart as soon as I can, Eric."

"I know you will," I say. "Take care of yourself first, Cody."

"Give me a few days… Maybe a week."

A week seems like forever. I'm hoping we can find a way to fix Bill sooner, but if not, I'll have to deal. One more week of hell is better than an eternity, but I'm terrified of what Bill might do in that time.

 _ **GRACIE**_

I come around in the middle of a battle. Drew is clutching the talisman and I realize what is happening. Raj, Paul, and Stephanie are trying to protect what I recognize instantly as a canopic jar. I know it must have either Bill's heart or soul inside of it.

I watch as Dean and Joe grab Stephanie. They restrain her. Nattie proceeds to slap her across the face before straight-up attacking the hell out of her. I'm impressed by her rage. Dean and Joe seem to be, too, as they exchange glances and let her go.

Drew and Heath go for Raj. I watch as the three of them battle like it's a familiar dance. It's impressive and sad at the same time. They'd once been a great team, and now, Raj has betrayed them in a way he'll never be able to come back from. I sense how much it hurts Drew and Heath to have to fight their former brother.

I recognize someone who has a massive amount of power behind her. She's the one Dean calls the Goddess, and she's going after Paul. To my great amusement, she's swinging a weapon I recognize… Mjolnir. I had no idea that the Goddess could wield Thor's infamous hammer, but apparently, it's one of her many skills. The funny thing is, Paul's soul equates to the actual God of Thunder. I'm not talking about the comic book version, either. Paul is actually the Norse God Thor. When he isn't under Stephanie's control, he's a powerful force of good. Unfortunately, those days have been few and far between lately.

Johnny and Josh stand back-to-back as Raj turns his magick toward them. I see that they're trapped in a water prison. Raj lost a lot of his access to his water powers when he turned evil, but that's something he can still do. Josh looks like he's starting to panic and I remember his fear of drowning.

"Not so fast, asshole!" The Goddess screams. She proceeds to swing Mjolnir at his head. Paul looks relieved someone else has to deal with the hammer for a minute. Raj cries out in agony as it smashes into his head, but it doesn't knock him out. The Goddess tries again, and this time, the water prison shatters. Johnny and Josh fall onto their hands and knees.

Josh is gasping for breath as Trinity pulls Johnny into her arms. Joe is the one who comforts his other cousin, pulling Josh back onto his feet and saying, "It's alright, Josh… You're okay. Just breathe."

Stephanie is starting to defend herself against Nattie with magick. Nattie screams and Dean reacts instantly. He rips Stephanie away from her and tosses her clear across the room.

"Nattie… Nattie, are you okay?" He asks. Nattie continues to scream in response.

"I'm on fire!" She shouts. She's not, so she must be under some sort of magick-induced hallucination.

"Nattie, there's nothing there. You're fine," Dean tries to explain.

"No! Don't you see it? Can't you feel it?" Nattie asks.

He tries to touch her, but she jumps back. "Don't! It'll hurt you!"

The Goddess walks over to them as Heath and Drew resume fighting against Raj. "Let me," she says gently. She kisses Nattie's forehead and suddenly, Nattie is calm.

"I… How did you do that?" Nattie asks.

"Shhh… You'll be fine now. Just breathe for a minute, okay?" The Goddess asks. She proceeds to return to torturing Paul with Mjolnir.

"I get it!" Paul says. "I'm not evil! I promise! I'm me!"

"I know," the Goddess says. "This is just my way of keeping you that way for a while." She hits him several more times. Paul loses consciousness, but I know when he wakes back up, he'll be himself. He won't be under Stephanie's control.

"Drew! Watch yer back, Fella!" Stephen shouts as he swoops in with a sword that seems to have manifested out of nowhere. I'm not entirely surprised Stephen can do that. His soul is a warrior God and he's very good at what he does.

"Thanks, Stephen!" Drew says as he dodges another attack from his side.

Trinity lets out a scream and I realize she's been stabbed. Stephanie stands over her holding a dagger. Johnny frantically shouts, " _Trin_!"

"Shit…" Josh whispers.

Trinity's eyes are starting to roll into the back of her head. "I love you," she tells Johnny.

"Don't you _dare_ ," he says harshly. "This isn't goodbye… Heath! Heath, I need help!"

Heath's too busy trying to defend himself from Raj, who has cloned himself about sixty times. He's got Heath and Drew completely surrounded.

"Move!" Dean says. He hurries to their side and kneels beside Trinity. "Let me see her."

"Dean…" Johnny sounds terrified. "Can you help her?"

Dean pauses, studying her. "Yeah," he says. "Yeah, Johnny, I can."

That's both good and bad. Dean's healing abilities are directly connected to death. He can only heal someone who's literally about to drop dead. Still, when he can do it, he heals them fully and they end up perfectly fine.

Dean pulls Trinity into his arms and focuses. I watch in fascination as he heals her. I can see Trinity's soul trying to escape from her body, but Dean pulls her back in and keeps her there. After a minute, she's fully healed.

Johnny sobs as he holds her. "Don't ever do that to me again," he says.

"Where's Stephanie?" Dean asks.

It's a good question. I realize she has fled the scene. That means there's only two people they have to defeat, and one's unconscious… The problem is, Raj is currently more like a few dozen people and the only way to take him down is to take down the original.

"Which one?" The Goddess asks Drew.

"I don' know, m'dear… He's got too many," Drew says apologetically.

"I guess I'll have to hit them all then." She grins and begins swinging Mjolnir toward every last one of the Rajs in the room. Finally, after taking down at least half of them, she hits another and all of them collapse. They quickly merge back into his body.

"I love you," the Goddess informs Mjolnir. She doesn't release it, but walks toward Paul's suitcase. A minute later, she pulls out a canopic jar. "One soul, freshly delivered," she says as she hands it to Drew.

He nods. "I'll protect it with all I have," he promises.

"I know you will. Get it to Cody as soon as you can."

"That won't work," Dean says.

"What?" The Goddess asks.

"Colby just told me Cody took a hit. It was bad… He's gonna be down for a while."

"What _kind_ of hit?" The Goddess asks sharply. I can tell she's fond of Cody from how strongly she reacts.

"Chaos almost killed him. Shredded his back, ripped open his side… He's okay. Jules took care of the venom and Taylor healed as much as he could, with help from Bray and Pam."

"How did that happen?"

"Chaos went for Jules. Cody dove in the way and saved her."

The Goddess' eyes literally turn to fire. I've never seen anything quite like that. "Son of a bitch!" She curses. "He's dead! As soon as I see him, I swear-"

"She's okay," Dean says quickly. "They both are."

"I don't give a fuck! He goes for the only person who can't throw a punch in that group? What a fucking coward!"

She proceeds to wake Raj back up. I'm confused until I see that she's now attacking him over and over again. I understand she needs an outlet, and she's decided to make Raj her toy for the day.

"She's going to be at this for a while, isn't she?" Joe asks.

"Definitely. Let her have her fun. She's earned it, and Raj can't die anyway," Dean says.

I realize that with how strongly the Goddess has sealed this space off magickally, I'm going to be stuck here for a while. At least I have some entertainment. I'm just relieved they have Bill's soul. Hopefully the others have his heart and they can fix him. Maybe then someone can figure out how to fix _me_ , too.

 _ **BILL**_

I let out a cry of agony as it feels like someone is squeezing my chest. I know someone has my heart. It's still in the jar, but it hurts me… That means it's in the hands of the good guys. How could that have happened?

I struggle to breathe. "Bill? Are you okay?" Leah asks me.

"My heart… They took it," I tell her.

"That's not possible, Baby. Harper's guarding it, and he has a ton of help."

"Trust me… They have it. It hurts, Leah… I feel like someone's trying to tear me apart!" My mind is struggling. The part of me that's been stuck mostly locked off is fighting for control again.

 _The good guys have my heart! They're going to save me!_ I think.

 _I can't be saved. I killed Gracie. There's no turning back,_ I tell myself.

 _There's always a way. They'll find it._

 _No… No, I'm evil. I am loyal to my master._

 _I_ have _no master!_

 _I… No. I have to follow him. I must obey._

 _Fuck that. I'm no follower!_

Have you ever had an argument with yourself and lost? I just experienced that. I take a deep breath as I realize I have to accept that they may be able to save me after all. The question is, do I still _want_ to be saved?


	4. Chapter 4

**CHAPTER FOUR**

 _ **ERIC**_

I know we're winning. We have Bill's heart and soul. We can save him. The problem is, we need Cody to do it. If only Brian were back, we could at least give Bill clarity while we waited, but he's still home with the baby.

 _He'd come if you asked him to,_ I think. It's tempting. Back when Brian was still on the indies, he got married. He spent his honeymoon going back and forth between New York and paradise because the battle was out of control and his friends at what was still Pro Wrestling Syndicate needed him. Most people would have said that was their vaccation time and to leave them out of it, but that's not who Brian is. He's fiercely loyal to everyone he cares about. A huge reason Brian left the indies, where he was doing incredibly well, and returned to Jobber Land at WWE was because Matt, a.k.a. his best Broski, Zack Ryder, asked him to. For one, Matt missed him, but for another, things were getting really bad here at WWE. Matt figured Brian's gift of clarity could give us the help we needed, or at least give Paul the strength to fight again.

"You look like a man with a lot on his mind," a girl I've never seen before says.

"Yeah, that's an understatement," I say.

"I'm Casey." She offers me her hand and I shake it.

"Eric... Or, you know, Enzo Amore. Whichever."

"Eric, I know you're facing an issue. I'm here to help."

I look at her in confusion. "Okay, I'll bite. How can you help?"

"I'm a Shaman. I can't fix Bill's heart... That journey is one Cody is meant to take... But your friend is in a unique place, Eric. He's found a way to split himself. His mind still has a shred of what he was, but he's struggling... The way he did it complicates things. No one has ever managed it before. Chaos can't fully control him. He has made Bill's shell do something terrible, but the _real_ Bill is struggling to regain control. I feel him. I can mend the pieces of his soul and help him, but I need assistance."

"If you fix his soul, will he be able to fight even without his heart?"

"Yes. Ultimately, he'll need his heart, too, but this will allow Bill to be himself again."

She could be making this up, but I don't get that vibe from her. "What do you need?"

"Bill and the jar with his soul. I'll also need someone to keep Bill asleep so I can do this."

"Colby can track him down. He is connected to everyone Chaos turns... And he'll have no issue going into Bill's head and pulling sleep to the front of his mind. I mean, he's itching to get in on the fight anyway, and Bill's not a threat to him on his own. Colby's protected from certain things because he was turned. The magick the turned people cast can't touch him."

"Colby's a good choice. They won't expect it."

I nod. "I'm on it... But the other team still has his soul, and the Goddess sort of locked the place down."

"I'll get his soul. She'll let me in. You just worry about Bill."

We split up after agreeing on a place to meet. I immediately head to find Colby. He finds me instead. "Let's go," he says.

"What, did you read my mind?" I ask.

"You think really loudly, Eric," Colby informs me. "Especially when you're stressed out."

We arrive at Leah's hotel room. "He's in there," Colby says.

"Talk about hiding in the obvious place," I say. "The girlfriend's room! Why didn't _I_ think of that?" Bill and I were rooming together like always until the heel turn, but he'd spent very little time in our room since Saturday. In hindsight, I should have realized something was wrong, but I'd assumed he was trying to get through to Leah again. I haven't seen him at all since Monday. It has only been two days, but it feels like an eternity.

I knock on the door. Bill opens it and looks at me in confusion. "How you doin'?" I ask before I throw a punch and knock him back inside the room.

Bill stares at me. Suddenly, his cold eyes turn even colder and he hisses out, _"Enzo..."_

Colby steps between us. He grabs Bill's head and stares into his eyes as he very firmly says, _"Sleep."_ Just like that, Bill takes a nap. He falls to the floor.

"Great," I say. "He's _seven foot tall,"_ I remind Colby. "How the hell do we move him?"

"Easy. He'll move himself." Colby looks at Bill and I can feel him taking full control of his mind. It's easy for him because Bill is literally unable to control himself right now. He's been reprogrammed to follow orders. Bill's eyes flutter open. "Stand up," Colby says. Bill obeys. "Now walk." Bill follows us.

Thomas appears and charges toward us. "Knock him out," Colby says. Bill immediately bashes Thomas' head into the wall and drops him to the floor.

I'm sort of impressed. "Can you make him tap dance, too?" I ask sarcastically.

"If I feel like it, I can give him a skirt and some pom poms and make him believe he's the newest member of the Spirit Squad," Colby says with a grin. I know he's serious. I decide here and now never to get on Colby's bad side.

We arrive at the location Casey and I agreed on. I feel the protection magick and watch as Casey cuts us into the room. She seals it back up, and I see she has the canopic jar.

Bill lays down and promptly passes out. Colby says, "He'll be out for as long as you need, but I'll stay in case of any trouble."

"Thank you," Casey says. "Eric, I'll need you to help me once he wakes up. Until then, I'll be in the spirit realm with him. Just watch over us and keep us safe until we wake up."

I don't question her. I'm not sure what to expect, but I will be here for the duration. I pray that when Bill wakes up, he's Bill again.

 _ **BILL**_

I have no idea what's happening. I must be dreaming because I'm surrounded by some pretty trippy things. My head is killing me.

"Hello, Bill," a woman says to me. "My name is Casey. I'm here to help you."

I'm not sure what to make of her. "Where are we?" I ask.

"In a sanctuary. You're safe here. They cannot touch you."

She puts a hand on my arm and I suddenly flash back on everything that happened to me.

 _I was dead. My heart had stopped beating. My soul, however, was trapped in my corpse. I wondered if I'd be stuck this way forever, broken, betrayed by the woman I loved, and terrified. My only ally was Nikki Bella, and they'd dragged her away. The scariest part of that was if Nikki was my only hope, I was_ really _in a bad spot._

 _The next thing I felt was something I couldn't fully process. It felt like someone reached inside of me and tore everything that made me who I was from my body. I struggled to hold on. I felt like I was screaming, but I was dead, so no sound actually came out. And then, there was nothing._

 _The dark consumed me. I was truly empty. Yet, somehow, I began to breathe. My blood began to run through my body without my heart. I'd studied medicine in college. I was pretty sure that was impossible, but it was hard to keep my thoughts straight enough to be certain._

 _"Rise, my vessel," Chaos hissed._

 _My eyes opened. I was still dead. I knew that... Yet I was moving._

 _"You belong to me now, Bill. You exist soley to serve me," he said._

 _"Yes, Master," I said._

No... No, fight! _A voice whispered in my head. It was my voice, but it sounded so far away. I couldn't connect to it..._

 _"Your mission is simple. Enzo Amore is holding you back. You must kill Enzo. Do you understand?"_

 _"Yes, Master. I must kill Enzo. He's holding me back."_

I stare at Casey. "Eric..." I whisper.

"You won't hurt him," Casey promises me. "I can help you."

"I already have... Gracie's dead... I... I killed her. I killed Gracie!"

"No. Gracie is still alive. I sense her spirit... She's trapped. I can help her, too, Bill."

I'm stunned. Gracie's alive? I very clearly remember beating her to death. I look at my hands in horror and I start to cry. "I beat her..." I whisper. "I hurt her so badly..."

"Bill. That wasn't your fault. Let me help you."

I shrug, fairly certain that she can't. She touches my forehead and suddenly, my entire life plays through my head like a movie. All of the big moments are there, starting with the day Eric and I met. It keeps going. I watch myself in college. I watch as I walk away from medical school to pursue the very impractical path of professional wrestling. I watch as I train, and ultimately, I end up playing Big Bill Young the Jobber. I don't mind. I'm paying my dues... But I need a better gimmick.

I relive every moment as if it's happening right now. I struggle to show them I'm more than a big guy with no personality. I become the over-the-top New Yorker, playing up my Queens accent. I toss around "how you doin'?" It seems to be my best shot at a catch phrase. I'm a solid comedy character now, but my career isn't going anywhere and I know it. And then, in walks the last person I expect to see. This memory slows down for me and I know it's in the past.

 _"Holy shit! Bill?" Eric asked me. "Is that you?"_

 _"Look what the cat dragged in!" I said. "What are you doing here?" I hugged him and it felt like no time had passed. I felt like something I'd been missing had finally returned to me. Eric was the missing piece of me. He was my brother._

 _"I'm here to wrestle, like I assume you are... How you doin'?"_

 _"I'm great," I replied. Suddenly, it was true._

 _"Are you gonna be a big star?"_

 _"I'm gonna be a big jobber," I said with an awkward laugh._

 _"What?! Did you go soft on me?"_

 _"Who's_ soft?" _I asked. "I'm paying my dues."_

 _"Bill... Brother... You ain't some jobber. They gotta know that. These other guys?_ They're _soft! You're the real deal."_

 _"Nobody here is soft."_

 _"Hey... Say that again," Paul said._

 _I jumped. I hadn't realized he was there. "Say what?" I asked. "Soft?"_

 _"Yeah! What the hell is 'sawft'?"_

 _"Soft. You know, like the opposite of hard?"_

 _"Soft? You're saying soft..." He paused, then imitated my accent again. "Sawft... I like it. Yeah, it could work... What's your name, Kid?"_

 _"Bill, Sir," I said. "Currently working under the gimmick Colin Cassady."_

 _"I like it... And you?" He asked Eric._

 _"Eric. Or, you know, Eric Anthony in the ring," Eric said. "I'm new." Paul didn't look impressed, so he added, "And I'm a Certified G, and a bonafied stud!"_

 _I knew Eric was just talking out of his ass, but Paul lit up. "That's good!" He said. "This could work... Yeah, you two together are gold!" Eric smirked at me._

 _"Say it again," Paul said to me._

 _"Um... Soft?"_

 _"Sawft! S.A.W.F.T. This is great!" He smiled at us. "I'll get back to you two." He walked away._

 _"I never met a guy so excited about being soft," Eric said._

 _I cracked up. "Man, I missed you," I said._

 _"I missed you, too. Guess this is fate or something, right?"_

 _"It's_ definitely _fate."_

I look at Casey, coming back into the present. "I hurt him," I say. "I hurt Eric." I can't forgive myself for that. Not only have I said some horrible and cruel things to him, but I tried to beat the woman he loved to death.

"You're a good man, Bill. Remember that. Cling to it. Let it help you find the light," Casey says to me. She shows me more.

 _We'd just completed a Tribute for the Troops show. This was sometime last year. I was heading back to everyone else when I saw a group of soldiers standing around someone. I realized it was Nikki. I'd never had many interactions with Nikki. I knew she was trouble. She'd been a powerful member of Team Baddie for a long time, and before that, she and her twin sister Brie had been Vince's evil pets. They'd moved on to Chaos for reasons unknown to most of us. Brie had since left Team Baddie after her husband Bryan helped her find the light, but Nikki had stayed with Chaos and become one of his fiercest minions._

 _The soldiers were drunk. That much as obvious. Nikki looked a little bit nervous, although she was trying to laugh it off and be polite. That's what they told the girls to do in those situations. It was best not to get aggressive if you could avoid it. I watched as one of the guys literally pinned Nikki against the wall. Another one groped her butt, and a third actually slipped his hand beneath her shirt and started straight-up molesting her._

 _I had seen enough. It didn't matter that this was Nikki Bella. It didn't matter that she was one of Team Baddie's top monsters. All I knew was a woman was getting violated by a bunch of perverts and I wasn't about to sit back and watch it happen._

 _I tapped the guy whose hand was under her shirt on his shoulder. He turned around looking annoyed, but hesitated when he realized his face only reached my chest and he had to look up to see my eyes. "How you doin'?" I asked. Then I threw the hardest punch I've ever thrown in my life. The soldier's nose started gushing blood and I knew I'd made my point._

" _What do you think you're doing?" The one who'd grabbed Nikki's butt asked._

" _Teaching you what happens when you disrespect a woman in front of me," I replied. "You wanna be next?"_

" _You can't touch us! How dare you?" The one pinning Nikki to the wall asked. He still had her wrists above her head._

 _I grabbed his hands and forced him to release her. I proceeded to twist his wrist so far to the right that if I twisted anymore, it would snap. He cried out in pain. "How dare I? How dare_ you?" _I demanded. "Go ahead and call in your bosses or mine. I'm sure they'd all love to hear exactly why I attacked you." I let him go._

" _We can't risk him talking," the only one I hadn't touched said. "Let's just get out of here."_

" _That's a good instinct," I said._

" _He broke my nose!" The first one complained._

" _And you'll lose your job and possibly your freedom if this goes to the top. We have to go," the smart one insisted._

" _If you so much as_ look _at one of our girls again, I'll show you just how soft you really are," I said._

 _They rushed away. "Are you alright?" I asked Nikki._

" _I… Yes," she said. She didn't look like that was the truth._

" _You're trembling," I said, taking off my jacket and automatically wrapping it around her. She adjusted her blouse to cover up what the jerk had exposed to the world before she pulled the jacket tighter around her body._

" _Thank you… Cass," she said, seemingly not sure what she should be calling me._

" _It's Bill, actually," I said._

" _Thank you, Bill. Really."_

" _It's no big deal."_

" _I'm one of the bad guys. Anyone else would have walked away."_

" _That's not true."_

" _Yes it is. And I understand why. I don't care… But you… You actually helped me. You're not like other people, Bill. So thank you."_

 _I nodded at her. "Will you be alright?"_

" _Yeah… They were just drunk idiots. I'm fine."_

" _Nikki… You're still shaking."_

 _She looked at me in confusion. "Why are you still so worried?"_

" _You just went through something… And it could have been even worse. You shouldn't be alone right now."_

" _I'll be fine, Bill. Really."_

" _Can I get you to John or something?"_

" _I can manage."_

" _After what just happened, I don't feel right leaving you alone. Let me walk you to wherever you're going."_

 _She stared at me. "Okay," she finally said. "Thank you." I walked her back to the hotel we were staying in. John was waiting for her when we arrived. Nikki took off my jacket and handed it to me. "Thanks again, Bill. I owe you one."_

" _No you don't. Just take care of yourself, and be careful." I looked at John. "Keep her safe, alright? There's a lot of drunk idiots around here."_

 _John looked concerned. "Is everything alright, Nicole?" He asked._

" _Some of the soldiers got a little hands-on. I'm fine. Bill intervened on my behalf," Nikki replied._

" _Then you're a hero," John said. "Thank you. That was damn decent of you."_

" _No matter what she's done, no one deserves what those creeps were obviously thinking about doing to her," I said. "Stop thanking me. It was the right thing to do. Just take care of her, alright?"_

" _Always," John promised me. He pulled Nikki into his arms and I knew she would be safe, so I left._

I look at Casey. "My God… Nikki." I remember where I left her. "I have to help her. She's being tortured because she tried to help me."

"You can't help her, Bill. You have to help yourself first," Casey said patiently. "You have a lot you need to heal from…"

The flashbacks start again. I watch as I meet Leah. She's sweet, eager, and unknown to a lot of people, she's technically a legacy. Her father was a jobber in the nineties. She's beautiful and she makes me laugh and I fall for her hard and fast. Eric and I immediately take her under our wing. Paul notices, and he loves the way she teases me by mocking my accent, and somehow, the four of us brainstorm and Carmella is _truly_ born.

Leah fills me with a joy I didn't realize I've been missing. I am a lot more lonely than I let on, although Eric chases a lot of that away. Leah keeps the rest at bay, and I'm finally at peace.

We meet Gracie while we're at the top of NXT. She becomes another best friend, and I watch my brother fall for her even harder than I fell for Leah. I try to convince him to tell her, but Eric insists it will only make things weird.

Fast-forward to Eric and I getting brought up to the main roster. I hate to leave Leah behind. It breaks my heart, but she's genuinely happy for us. I love her and I promise what we have is forever.

I look at Casey, back in the present. "I broke my promise," I say.

"No, Bill. The girl you loved changed. She became a completely different person. You did the best you could. You tried to save her. She just kept making the wrong choices. You had to walk away," Casey says.

"But I left her... And they convinced her we could be together if she turned me."

"Leah is not a victim, Bill. She knew what she was doing. She knew it was wrong. She chose to betray you anyway."

My soul aches, but my heart doesn't break. That's because I still don't have one, but my soul is starting to become part of me again.

"You're almost there," Casey says.

Suddenly, she takes my hand. A moment later, I feel someone else joining us. "Bill," Gracie whispers.

I stare at her. "Gracie… God, Gracie… I'm _so_ sorry," I say. I start to cry again. I know my soul is fully mine again, but it's still broken… I've done so much harm… How can I ever fix it?

"None of that," Gracie says. She pulls me into a hug, shocking me. "It wasn't your fault, Bill. I know you would never hurt me."

"But I _did_!"

"No. _They_ hurt me. You had no control… And you tried to fight."

"Can you ever forgive me?"

"There's nothing to forgive… But yes, Bill. I forgive you. I never blamed you to begin with."

And suddenly, something in me heals. I can't explain what it is exactly, but the smallest bit of darkness that was threatening to completely take over has transformed into the slightest bit of light.

"You're ready," Casey tells me. "I'm going to return to my body and place your soul in yours… When Colby wakes you up, you'll be yourself again."

"Wait! What about me?" Gracie asks. "I'm stuck. I can't find my body."

Casey takes Gracie's hands in her own. She focuses an enormous amount of energy on her. "You're going to heal, Gracie. Your body is already beginning to because something in your soul has healed now that you've seen Bill. Understanding he really won't hurt you and knowing he's going to be okay is going to help you heal. Once your soul fully heals, so will your body."

"That's awesome, but how do I find it? I don't know where they took me."

"I'll guide you back… Right after I guide Bill back to his."

Gracie nods. She looks at me. "See you on the other side," she says.

Casey leaves us. Suddenly, I feel cold. I don't know what's happening. And then, Gracie vanishes and I am thrust into my still very dead-but-alive body. I don't have my heart. It's like I'm alive because of some magickal LVAD machine. I don't need my heart for my blood to pump and my body to live, but I still feel empty without it. That said, I feel different now. My mind is clear. I understand everything that happened to me, and I even feel like I've dealt with some of it.

I look around and realize we're in a small gym. There's some sports equipment scattered around. I spot Eric. "Eric…" I whisper. I look away, afraid of what I'll see in his eyes. Whether it's hatred or hurt, it's going to destroy me.

"Um… How you doin'?" Eric asks awkwardly.

I look up at him then and stand up. I feel a little shaky. "Easy!" Colby says, rushing to my side. "It's a transition, Bill. You have to take it slow. Your body needs to adjust to having your soul back inside of it." He pauses. "How are you feeling?"

"I'm… Me," I say. "I think."

"You are," Casey promises me.

Eric looks nervous. I know he wants to come over to me, but he's hesitant. I do the only thing I can think of… I pick up the basketball that's sitting in the corner of the gym and bounce it against the floor toward him. "Check?" I ask cautiously.

Eric grins at me. He bounces the basketball back toward me. "Check," he says.

"I'm so sorry, Eric. For everything," I say.

He runs to me and gives me the tightest hug of my life. "Shut up," he says. "You've got _nothing_ to apologize for."

"I love you. You know that, right? I didn't mean any of the things I said."

"I know, Brother. I love you, too. It's okay. It's ancient history, alright?"

I nod. "We need to get you somewhere that you can rest," Colby says. "You'll need to get some sleep before your body feels closer to normal."

I'm exhausted, but I have other things on my mind. "Gracie," I say.

"She'll be okay," Casey promises. "She's coming back to you."

"What about Nikki? I can't just leave her…"

"Nikki?" Eric asks in surprise. "What _about_ her?"

"She tried to save me, Eric. She's the only one who did… And she's paying for it. He's torturing her. I have to help her."

" _Help_ her? Bill, Nikki's like the ultimate evil! I mean, didn't she kill a Make-A-Wish kid?"

"She did… But I think she wants to change, Eric. She risked everything to try to help me, and she didn't have to do that. I can't just leave her being tortured."

Colby frowns. I realize I may have hit a sore spot for him. Nikki didn't just kill a Make-A-Wish kid… She is also the person who cut Colby's heart out… But that Nikki and the Nikki I saw the night I was turned are not the same person.

"You can't help her right now," Colby finally says. "You're too weak. You need to recover."

"Then someone else needs to." I pause. "Not you, of course… I'd never ask you to do that."

"I'd do it," Colby says, surprising me. "I can tell from your thoughts that Nikki showed she has the potential to change… But I can't. They'd sense me coming. Chaos knows my energy way too well, and he guards against it everywhere he goes. I'd walk into an ambush… And I won't do that twice." His eyes look haunted. I know he's thinking about the night they turned him, right after the Shield defeated Evolution. Colby was hurt that night, but he insisted he was fine to go back to his hotel alone, and they'd ambushed him. No one knew all of the details except, most likely, for Randy and Jules. I don't even think he told Dean and Joe the entire story. He doesn't talk about that night, and I understand why. I don't ever want to talk about what happened to me, either, and from what I understand, Colby went through a lot more than I did.

"I'm sorry. I didn't mean to upset you," I say.

"I'm okay," Colby says. "I'm just glad your soul is alright… We'll get your heart soon, but… Well, we ran into an issue."

"What issue?"

"Cody almost died. He's okay, but he needs time to recover before he can fix it."

"I can wait. I'm in control of myself. That's what matters." It's true. I feel like I can handle anything… After a nap. My exhaustion is overwhelming me suddenly.

"Come on," Colby says, realizing what's happening. "I'll get you to Dean's safe house. You can rest there without having to worry."

I nod because that's all I have the energy to do at this point. I know I have to rest, but once I'm functional, I'm going to fight back. Chaos is going to have hell to pay for what he's done… I try not to think about the fact that I may very well end up having to face Leah in a battle. That's too much to worry about right now. The only thing I can think about is curling up in bed under about a thousand blankets to chase away this internal cold I'm feeling. I suspect even that won't be enough.

 _ **GRACIE**_

I spot my body on a bed. I'm still clothed, which surprises me. Team Baddie's not known for being kind. I wouldn't have put it past them to violate me while I was stuck in a coma. I realize why that didn't happen when I see who's guarding me.

"Corey," I mumble. Corey Graves is known to be attracted to teenaged girls. His preference is between the ages of thirteen and sixteen, so I'm too old for him. As a skilled manipulator of energy and electricity, Corey used to be one of the top assholes on Team Baddie, but one of Dean's mysterious friends fried him so thoroughly psychically that Corey will probably never be able to use his abilities ever again. That's a good thing, because he was deadly before. This is actually the real reason he had to retire from wrestling. His brain was so messed up from what she did to him, it was dangerous to let him into the ring. In medical exams, his brain shows severe damage from concussions.

I know Corey's not that dangerous anymore. He's still strong, but I can take him. My magick will have him on his ass in seconds. I look at my body. It's almost fully healed. I can definitely enter it without dying. I'm relieved that whatever Casey did seems to have fixed me. I close my eyes and concentrate, slipping back into my body.

I sit up Undertaker-style. Corey jumps out of his skin and lets out a rather undignified sound. "What the fuck?" He demands. "He told me you were as good as dead!"

"I was. I got better," I say. The look on his face is priceless. I use his shock to my advantage and cast a quick spell that puts him into a deep sleep. I could have done something more violent, but Corey didn't actually do anything to me. I can tell he didn't hurt me. He didn't even play stab-the-coma-girl to entertain himself. That earns him a brief reprieve, because I know a lot of the others would have at least done _something_ to me.

I take off running. As soon as I reach the exit, I run straight into someone. I'm ready to attack when I realize this person's not going to hurt me.

"Eric!" I cry out.

"You're okay!" Eric says at the same time. He pulls me into his arms and hugs me tightly. After a minute, he blurts out, "I fucking love you, Gracie. You know that, right?"

I look at him. "Of course I do. I love you, too," I say casually. "Thanks for coming to find me."

"No… You're not getting it. I don't just love you, Gracie… I'm _in_ love with you. I've been crazy about you since the day we met, and it's only gotten stronger as time's gone on."

I'm staring at him. I'm stunned he's saying this to me. I shake my head and laugh. "It's about Goddamned _time_ , Eric!" I say.

"Wait… Huh?" Eric asks.

"I suspected… But you never made a move, so I told myself I was making it up." I kiss him. Eric takes a second to react because I've shocked him, but soon, he's kissing me, too. Now _this_ is a good thing to wake up to!

"I had to tell you," he says. "Just in case… I mean… I almost lost you, Gracie, and you didn't know… I never told you… And that's the sort of thing you _need_ to tell someone."

"I'm glad you did," I say. "Now, let's get the fuck out of here before any more bad guys show up."

He nods. Together, we leave that place behind and I relax as I hold his hand. This is kind of nice. I'm glad one good thing came out of me almost dying. I want to believe that everything will be fine now. Bill's got his soul back and his heart is in the hands of Team Good. We've resolved everything, and fairly easily at that… But I know that's not how life works, especially in the supernatural world. Trouble is coming, and with our luck, it's going to show up very soon. Until it does, however, I'm content to live life while I can. If we only get today, at least the truth has come out and we're together. That's what matters. The rest of the pieces will fall where they're meant to. We're just going to have to wait and see where things go from here.


	5. Chapter 5

**CHAPTER FIVE**

 _ **BILL**_

It's been just over a week since I got my soul back. Not much has happened except that Eric and Gracie have declared themselves a couple, and it's about time. I've had to keep up my heel turn on screen and it's killing me, but when we're not on camera, Eric and I are as tight as ever. I'm rooming on my own because I don't completely trust myself yet, but Eric's right next-door.

I can't stop thinking about Nikki. I tried to go back to where they had her, but they'd already moved her. I don't know how to find her and I know everyone's going to freak out if I try to go after her again. They keep telling me I'll be walking into a trap. I know they're right, but I can't handle knowing Nikki's being tortured because of me.

I finally call Casey for one last bit of help. She's already told me that she can't interfere any more than she already has for the safety of herself and her family, but I'm desperate. "Nikki needs help," I tell her.

"You can't be the one who goes after her, Bill. They'll kill you," Casey reminds me.

"I know... But no one else will help her. Team Good means well, but they can be kind of judgmental and they've deemed Nikki as someone they can't save, so they won't even try."

"I can't help her, Bill. He'll come for my family."

"I know. I'm not asking you to... I just need you to talk to the one person who might listen."

"Who?"

"Dean. He isn't like the others. If someone genuinely needs help and has expressed they want to change, he will help them even if he hates their guts. Dean arranged for Tyson Kidd to hook up with Team Not Good Enough when Brian _finally_ got through to him. TJ was one of the biggest monsters on that team. He was the guy guarding the canopic jar with Colby's heart. He also beat on Nattie after Chaos started pulling his strings, and Dean's really close to Nattie, so he hated him for that, too... But when TJ left, Dean knew Chaos would kill him if he wasn't protected, so he sent him to Jess Havok and not only is TJ safe, he's becoming a model citizen. Dean did for TJ what Colby and Joe did for him. They gave him a chance he didn't deserve and he rose to the occasion and earned it. He used to be one of the bad guys. He was never Team Baddie, but he was Team Vince, and that was just as bad back in the day. Dean was a monster, but when he finally showed there was more to him, Colby and Joe held on tight and didn't let him go until he became one of the strongest forces of good I've ever met. He never forgot that, so when no one else will give someone a chance to change, Dean will."

"Then it sounds like he'll do it if you ask," Casey says.

"He would... Except Nikki's different. Nikki cut out Colby's heart, and that might be the one thing Dean can't forgive."

Casey sighs. "Bring him to me. I'll help him see what he needs to."

"Thank you, Casey," I say.

A little while later, I bring Dean to her. "I need you to help someone," she says.

"Okay... Who?" Dean asks.

"Please hear me out... Nikki needs help."

"Nikki... As in Nikki Bella."

"Yes."

"Not to sound like a dick, but why the hell would you think I'd care?"

"She helped Bill, Dean. She tried to save him."

"It's true," I say. "She was a total badass, and she risked everything to try to stop them from turning me."

"Look, Bill, I appreciate that... But it's Nikki."

"I know... But there's no one else, Dean. No one will help her."

"That's not my problem!" Dean snaps.

"Team Good claims to be the right side, but you choose who deserves your help selectively and look down your noses at everyone you deem unworthy," Casey says. "You're hypocrites. You're no better than the bad guys!"

"I'm trying to change that!" Dean says. "I even fucking helped _TJ!_ But Nikki? That bitch cut out my best friend's heart and cost me _everything!"_ His voice cracks and I realize how close to tears he is, but he's too strong to let them fall. "She cost me my _sister."_ Dean never talks about that. I realize now I may have asked too much of him, more than I have a right to, but Casey isn't backing down.

"Dean, they're _torturing_ her," Casey says. "They're starving her as a succubus but they're keeping her alive... They crucified her."

Dean freezes. "They _crucified_ her?" He asks.

"Chaos said if she wanted to act like a savior, he'd treat her like one."

"Sick bastard..." Dean sighs. "Fine. I'll get the bitch down, I'll hire a male prostitute so she can feed, whatever. But she's not allowed in my safe house."

"I didn't ask you to let her in. I know you have strict rules about who can and cannot be there."

"Damn right. I kicked _Joe_ out for bringing too much Chaos in and _he's_ my brother. The only reason I let him come back was he promised he'd be more careful and I needed to send TJ to Jess and I knew Joe would kill him."

"So you'll help her?" I ask.

"Yeah. I'll help her," Dean says. "Remind me again how I keep ending up in these situations?"

"You're a good man," Casey says.

"I am not," Dean says. "But I'm trying to be. And I've got a long way to go. The good I've done doesn't even begin to make up for the evil."

"Yes it does," Casey says firmly. "You, above everyone else, have proven you're a force of good. You made mistakes, but those acts don't represent who you really are."

He shrugs. "Whatever. I've gotta go figure out how I'm going to pull this off. Later." He walks away. Dean Ambrose is a very haunted man. I feel bad for asking him to do this, but I know he's the only one who can help.

"Thank you, Casey. Really," I say.

"He just needed a push in the right direction," Casey says. "Good luck, Bill. Take care of yourself." She gives me a hug and leaves.

I try to relax. Someone's going to help Nikki. That's all that matters.

 _ **GRACIE**_

I'm sitting with Lexy just relaxing when we see Dean walk by. He looks kind of upset, so I grab him. "You okay?" I ask.

"I'm on a rescue mission I'd prefer not to be on," Dean replies.

"Want help?"

"You're still recovering."

"I'm fine. Really. Who are we rescuing?"

"Nikki Bella."

Lexy looks startled. "What happened to Nikki?" She asks.

"Apparently, for some reason, Nikki tried to stop them from turning Bill. They're punishing her."

"I'm coming."

"What?" Dean looks confused.

"Nikki may have done a lot of evil things, but she's still a human being. We all make mistakes. She made the right choice for once. She shouldn't be punished for that. So I'm in. Besides, I literally have an endless supply of energy. My life force regenerates constantly. I can lend her some if she's as bad as I suspect she is."

"Lexy, I have no idea what we're walking into. It could be an ambush."

"So? Come at me, Bro!" She puts her fists up and I laugh. I love Lexy. She's a psychotic little pixie and she's feisty as hell.

Even Dean laughs. "Alright, fine," he says. "You can come, _Powerpuff Girl,_ but if I tell you to run, you run. You, too, Gracie."

I nod. With that, we head to rescue the last person Team Good would normally help.

We find her pretty quickly. I spot Adam standing guard outside of the room. I put a finger over my lips to tell Dean and Lexy to stay silent. Carefully, I raise a ball of energy and shoot it at him. Braun Strowman's not a small guy. He hits the ground and it makes a lot of noise. I pray no one else is close enough to hear it.

We're in luck because nobody seems to be in the room. We all freeze when we see Nikki. She's deathly pale. Her head hangs to the side and it's obvious how weak she is. She looks nearly dead.

"Fuck..." Dean mumbles. He looks completely freaked out.

"Dean? Are you okay?" I ask.

"She's not the first crucified person I've seen," Dean says. He doesn't elaborate. He shakes his head and walks closer to her.

Nikki somehow lifts her head to look up at him. "Dean... You're here to kill me, aren't you?" She asks. Her voice is hoarse. She looks so terrified and broken that even I feel sorry for her.

"No," Dean says. "I'm here to help."

"What?" Nikki croaks out in disbelief.

"I know. I'm shocked, too," Dean informs her. He looks at her wounds and curses. "Nikki, this is gonna hurt. A lot."

"It's okay. I know it will."

He nods. He pulls out a hammer and pulls out the nail in her right wrist. Nikki doesn't scream and I'm not sure if she's actually that tough or if she just doesn't have the strength left. "Put pressure on it," Dean tells me as he hands me a towel. He then repeats this with her other wrist and has Lexy do the same. Finally, he frees her feet. He holds the third towel to them as we lay her down.

"She'll bleed out," I say nervously. "Can you heal her, Dean?"

He frowns. "No. The spell Chaos has on her leaves her really close to death, but she stays just far enough from the brink that I can't heal her," he says. "We need to get her to someone she can feed on."

"What about John?" Lexy suggests. "She won't mind sleeping with him."

"She's too sick. If she feeds on John right now, she'll kill him." He curses. "I know a guy in CZW... I can't stand him, but he's the strongest incubus I've ever met. She can feed as much as she needs to without it hurting him. He's her best shot."

Nikki's breathing is getting shallow. "We need to hurry," I say.

"Hang on," Lexy says. She looks at Nikki. "Stay still, okay?" She kisses Nikki's cheek for several seconds.

Nikki is still extremely weak, but her breathing evens out. She looks at Lexy. "Thanks," she manages.

"No problem," Lexy replies.

After carefully wrapping her wounds, I help Nikki stand. She stumbles, unable to walk on her feet with the puncture wounds. I keep her steady. "Fuck it," Dean says. He picks her up in his arms. Nikki rests her head on his shoulder and keeps her arms wrapped around his neck as he carries her to safety.

 _ **ERIC**_

I'm working out when someone gets my attention by tapping me on my shoulder. I turn around and pull off my headphones as I see who it is.

"What the fuck do _you_ want?" I ask Leah. I can't believe that bitch has the balls to show her face around me. I'm tempted to punch her in it. In my mind, the "but she's a girl" rule went out the window the second she cut out Bill's heart.

" _Enzo,_ " she says with a fake sweetness and some urgency. "Wash out that mouth of yours with soap!" Her accent is over the top and I realize what must be going on. I look behind her. There's a kid who's maybe eight or nine looking at us.

"Oops! Sorry!" I say to the kid. "Don't repeat that word, okay?"

He smiles at me shyly. "You guys are _so cool!"_ The kid says. "I can't believe what Big Cass did to you, Enzo! But forget him! You rock! Team Enzo for life!"

I smirk at that. I wasn't aware there was a Team Enzo. I'm kind of amused and sorta touched. "What's your name, kid?" I ask.

"This is Zack," Leah tells me. "He's a big fan and wanted a picture with us. It's his ninth birthday. You don't mind, _right,_ Enzo?"

"Mind? Of _course_ not, Carmella! This kid right here is a certified G and a bonafied stud! Right, Zack? It would be an honor!"

He laughs. "This is so cool," he gushes as he pulls out his cell phone. I take it and position it just right to capture the three of us. I try to ignore the fact that I want to bash Leah's fucking face in as I smile wide and snap the photo.

I give the kid a hug. Leah does the same and I watch as he grabs her ass for a second. I can't help it. I start laughing hysterically at the shocked look on Leah's face.

I'm tempted to high-five the kid, but I remember I'm supposed to be a role model, and I can't just encourage this sort of thing... Even if it's hilarious.

"That was slick, my man, but don't do it again. You only grab a lady's butt if she gives you permission. Cool?" I ask.

"Sorry, Carmella," he says. "I just wanted to try it."

"You got it out of your system. Don't do it again and we're good," I say.

"I won't, Enzo" he says sincerely.

"Good. Happy birthday, Zack."

"Thanks!" He runs off.

When he's out of sight, I start laughing again. "Looks like you got yourself a new boyfriend there, Leah," I say as I continue to laugh so hard I'm nearly crying.

"Shut up," Leah says. "Bill's coming back to me. This is temporary."

"He's got his soul back. The magickal mind control is over. You lost him for good."

"Fuck off, Eric! I don't _need_ magick to make Bill love me."

"He _did_ love you, Leah. He broke up with you because he couldn't keep watching you make all the wrong choices, but he _still_ loved you. You fucked that up when you betrayed him."

"This is _not_ over." She glares at me before she walks away. I shrug, put my headphones back on, and push that traitorous bitch out of my mind.


	6. Chapter 6

**CHAPTER SIX**

 _ **BILL**_

The nightmares are unbelievably bad. Every night, I dream of Chaos and his minions... Worst of all, I dream of Leah, and I remember how it felt to have her literally cut out my heart. I relive the things I did... To Eric, to Gracie, and in general to give Chaos more power. I remember my soul being torn from my body and leaving only darkness. I remember what it was like to feel nothing. I still feel cold. I don't have my heart back yet, and the cold is unnatural and horrible... Cody's working on it now, but it's going to take him a few more days to fully fix it. The purification process is a long and complicated one.

I'm stuck in the worst nightmare yet. I'm screaming in my sleep, but my body won't wake up.

"Bill!" Someone calls urgently. _"Bill. Brother. Wake up!"_

I open my eyes and realize I'm on the floor. Not only did I manage to pull the sheets and blankets off my bed, but I've shredded them. I try to catch my breath as I look at Eric. Tears are streaming down my cheeks. He doesn't look like he's doing much better.

"I'm sorry," I mumble.

"Don't. It's okay, Bill. You're okay," he tells me.

Eric has ended up in my room every night since I got my soul back. My screams wake him up and he uses the spare hotel room key to let himself in and calm me down. I won't let myself have a key to his room. I'm still too afraid I'll hurt him.

I don't say anything else. I focus on calming my breathing down while Eric rambles about absolutely trivial things. It helps, just like it has for the last several nights.

"I need to go for a walk," I say after a while.

"Okay. Want company?" Eric asks.

"Not this time." He nods and leaves it alone. Eric knows I'm still in a fragile place right now and I need to do things my way.

I walk in the woods for a while before ending up by a creek. I expect to be alone, but I'm not. Nikki is standing at the water's edge. She's wearing a sun dress and a big hat and looks much better than I expect her to, considering.

"Fancy meeting _you_ here," I say awkwardly.

Nikki jumps out of her skin. I've never seen her spooked before. "Bill," she says with relief. "You look better... Are you okay?"

"I have my soul back... But I should be asking _you_ that question."

"I'm fine," Nikki says.

"You _can't_ be fine... Not after all that..."

"Danny Havoc works wonders."

"He helped you?"

"He's Team Good, but he's a pretty neutral guy. He doesn't judge. When Dean brought him a succubus in distress, he was happy to help. He's probably the strongest incarnated incubus. It only took him a couple of hours to fix me... I'm better than ever." She pauses. "You sent Dean to help me. You saved my life, Bill. Anyone else would have let me die."

"I owed you one."

"No, you didn't."

"Nikki, I'm so sorry they did that to you."

"It's not your fault. I knew when I made my choice that there would be consequences."

"You're incredibly brave to have done that."

"Well, I _am_ Fearless," she jokes, invoking her gimmick. She turns serious again. "Actually, I've never been that terrified before... But I'd do it again, Bill. In a heartbeat. Even knowing what he did to me for betraying him."

"Is it safe for you to be out here alone?"

"No... But I can't risk bringing John with me. He'll just kill him, and as complicated as my relationship with him is, I... I _do_ care about him. A lot." She seems embarrassed by this confession.

"You _should._ He's your boyfriend."

" _Fiance,"_ she corrects me with a sad smile. "But it's a public relationship... Vince told Brie and I if we wanted to get ahead and survive when we came back to WWE, we'd better pick two superstars to seduce so we had some value."

"He put it like that?"

"He did. Vince is _such_ a sweetheart, right?" She laughs. "Anyway, Bryan and John were literally the top two guys in the company, so we did things the Bella way and went for them. We were using them... But John always knew that. When it came out, John told me it was okay because he was using me, too. And we were good. We kept it up. But Bryan... He was heartbroken, but he stayed with my sister because he loved her and he knew if he broke up with her and told the truth about why, it would destroy her career. He's too good of a man to do that to her... And it changed her. Brie started trying to be a better person. She worked really hard and she wasn't even sure why at first... But she realized she was actually falling for him. That's why she walked away from Chaos. She became one of the good guys so she'd be worthy of Bryan's love."

"Wow... That's intense."

"Yeah..." Nikki shrugs. "I never considered becoming good. Instead, when John's ex-girlfriend died, I watched it destroy him. He was broken. He needed me... And I was there, but instead of helping him, I convinced him to join Chaos so he'd never, _ever_ have to hurt like that again... I took one of the purest men in WWE and I convinced him his best option was to stop fighting for what he believed in and to join me instead." She shakes her head. "I'm a _really_ bad person and John is stuck on the dark side because of me. He can't walk away. Chaos will slaughter him... So I'm just trying to keep distance between us right now, because as long as Chaos thinks I don't care about him, he'll be fairly safe."

"Nikki... You can get out. We can help you."

"Thanks, but Team Good will never have me. I'm a monster. I killed Connor." She looks upset and I realize with surprise that she regrets it.

" _Why_ , though?" I ask what I'm sure no one ever has. "Why kill an innocent kid?"

She pauses. "Because I'm a very, _very_ evil bitch."

"I don't buy it. You didn't do that because you had some mood swing."

"No... I did it to hurt Bryan." She looks at me. "Do you know my history, Bill?"

"Not much of it, no."

"My sister and I have a fake family. Vince found us in this _awful_ place called the Forgotten Land. Only assholes and people who have nowhere else to go spend time there. Vince came looking for easy prey. Brie and I had been there for so long, we had no idea who we were before we got there. We didn't know our names, but we knew we were twins. We held on to each other. That's how we survived, because we were all we had. People used us and left us, over and over, without our consent. They'd torture us, and we just had to deal, because that's all we were."

"Jesus, Nikki..." I can't even imagine what that must have been like. How can a place like that even exist?

"When Vince found a pair of twin succubi, he couldn't resist making us his pets. He got us out of there and brought us back to this realm. At first, it seemed great. He promised us the world... A place to live, the freedom to choose who we slept with, a _family..._ But very quickly, we realized our freedom to choose didn't apply to him or his Team Vince guys. If we tried to refuse what he wanted, he'd threaten to send us back, and nothing is as bad as that place was... So we stayed, and we had our family of tulpas he created, and we were famous... He kicked us out once because he didn't need us, but he took us back... And then he built an entire business around us. Suddenly, we were on top of the world. The thing was, we still had no freedom and no choices. It seemed okay, since it was all we'd ever known, but then Stephanie offered us a better choice. We could work for an entity who was stronger than her father, one who would protect us... And we'd have whatever we wanted. So we joined Chaos, and we never looked back, until all of a sudden, Brie fell in love..."

"So what happened?"

"I blamed Bryan for everything. The only person I'd always had was my sister. We were in this together. We were a team... And he took her away from me. I was all alone and I decided he had to pay for it... In hindsight, Chaos probably pushed the thought... I was upset and vulnerable and he used that and made it so that's all I could think about... I let Bryan have his Wrestlemania moment, and he married Brie... And I proceeded to destroy him. Chaos demanded Warrior had to die. Stephanie refused. She loved him too much... But I knew Bryan worshiped him, so I did it."

" _You're_ the one who killed Ultimate Warrior?" I ask in shock.

"Yes. He knew it was coming. That's why he gave the speech he did... I killed him and watched it rip out Bryan's heart... And then, while he was on his honeymoon with my sister, I killed his father."

"Nikki..." I whistle. " _Wow._ "

"I know... But the worst thing I ever did was kill that sweet little boy..." She looks like she wants to cry, but she doesn't allow herself to. "I love kids... And Connor was the purest, kindest ball of light... He was fighting so hard, and I told myself... I told myself it was kinder to end his suffering, and I killed him. It was painless. I made sure he felt nothing, and that he was seeing things that made him happy and nothing else... But it doesn't make it okay. I'm a monster and I know that... Even Stephanie looked down on me for that."

"Nikki..." I sigh. What can I say? She murdered one of the biggest legends in wrestling, an innocent man, and a little boy who was fighting like hell to live even though he had a terminal illness. I should write her off like everyone else… But she did it because she thought she was losing her sister, and even if it was cruel and heartless, she is obviously having second thoughts about her choices.

"He was a little boy… Just a _baby_ …" She whispers. I can't believe what I'm seeing as she actually starts to cry. The tears aren't just for show. I know, because she tries to subtly hide them.

"You wouldn't do it again," I say flatly.

"What?" She asks.

"If you had it to do over. You wouldn't kill him."

"No. No, I wouldn't."

"And Warrior and Bryan's father?"

"I can't say that. Those two were easier to justify. Warrior had to die. Chaos ordered it because he was a threat to him… And Bryan's dad… I don't know. It made sense in my head… At the time… But Connor… That never did. Not really. It's the worst thing I've ever done in my life. Afterward, at least until his ex died and he broke, John couldn't even look at me. If there wasn't a camera around, he avoided me. He told me that he knew I was fucked up, but I'd gone way too far… And he was right. There was no coming back from that. I'll never be able to."

I look into her eyes. "Nikki, you _can_ change. If you _really_ want to, I promise, I'll help you."

"You're so sweet, Bill… But you don't understand. Someone who's done the things I have can never really leave the dark side. It's where I belong. It's all I know."

" _Exactly_. It's all you know. You don't remember anything before that place, and when Vince brought you here, he made you evil. You never ha d a choice… But you do now."

"I have choices with Chaos… And I make all the wrong ones."

"His influence is stronger than you can fight… But that's because you were fighting alone. You don't have to, Nikki. You can choose to be good."

She touches my cheek gently. I let her, and I think it surprises her. "I wish I could believe that."

"So do I." We sit in silence after that, just looking at the water. It's peaceful here, and for the first time, I don't feel completely consumed by everything that's happened. In some strange way, I understand Nikki now, and I think she understands me, too.

 _ **ERIC**_

I am walking toward the arena when I spot Fergal, Pam, and Lexy. "Hey guys," I say. "How you doin'?"

"We were just about to get a quick bite to eat before heading to the arena," Pam says. "Want to join us?"

"Sure," I say. "I'm always down for food."

"We know. We've seen tha way ya eat, lad," Fergal teases me.

We start walking toward whatever restaurant they've chosen. All of a sudden, Lexy stops. "Wait!" She says. "We're not alone."

Her warning comes too late, as we spin around and get hit with I don't even know what sort of spell. It hits me last, but I'm powerless to do more than watch as Pam, Fergal, and Lexy hit the ground right before I black out, too.

 _ **GRACIE**_

I know something's wrong, but I can't put my finger on it. I try to call Eric. I get his voicemail, but that's not abnormal. I know he was heading to the arena for RAW. I tell myself not to worry, but I can't help it. Something is definitely going on.

To calm myself down, I try to focus on working out, but that doesn't help. I try calling Eric again. He still won't pick up. I'm really starting to freak out. I finally drive to the arena, figuring if he's there, I can laugh about this and move on. The problem is, I don't find him. I'm filled with a sense of dread as I see someone else… His doppelganger.

Every single wrestler in WWE has a doppelganger. Some wrestlers in other companies do, too. This way, when the battle with Chaos takes someone out of the running, we're covered. The show goes on. The fans have no idea what's happening behind the scenes. If someone has a nervous breakdown, this magickal double can go out and perform and pretend to be them. Most of the doppelgangers are very convincing. Some tend to flub their lines a bit, but they do the trick. When Chaos turned Eric Young, Dixie had her people try to make a doppelganger because poor EY had a complete meltdown. Unfortunately, they didn't have Bill's skills, and they failed miserably. EY's doppelganger is, like, clinically retarded and possibly rabid, but most people just chalked it up to EY's newly heel character being "crazy," and rolled with it. EY's case is a worst case scenario. Vince's doppelganger's are much more convincing. Doppelganger Enzo Amore is an exact clone. I'm pretty sure that at first glance, only Bill and I realize it's not him.

"Bill," I say as he arrives. "Something's wrong. That's not Eric."

"I know," he says. I can see how worried he is.

"He won't pick up his phone."

Nikki looks at us. "He's going to be high on his list," she says softly. "I don't want to panic you guys, but…"

She doesn't have to complete her sentence. At that moment, someone comes running into the backstage area. "April?" Dean asks sharply from nearby. "What are you _doing_ here? What's wrong?"

AJ Lee hasn't been seen backstage at a WWE event in quite some times. If the fans catch her, the rumors will never stop. At the moment, April doesn't seem to care. She's trembling and her eyes are crazier than usual. I see that she's crying blood.

"Jesus Christ!" I exclaim.

"Shit… Colby! Joe! Get over here!" Dean calls.

Colby and Joe hurry over. Colby immediately pulls April toward him. "Honey, what's wrong?" He asks.

"Unicorn… My unicorn…" April says.

Bill and I exchange confused glances. "Um… Come again?" Dean asks.

" _Bayley_ ," Colby says in alarm. "She calls Bayley her 'special unicorn.' She's talking about _Pam_."

"What's wrong with Pam?" Dean asks.

"April's a Seer," Nikki explains to Bill and I. "Probably one of the most powerful prophetesses to ever walk the earth, and definitely the strongest one to ever be in WWE. But when a vision's got a strong enough grip on her, she can't always get her point across coherently."

Joe pulls some tissues out of his pocket. "Clean her up, Colby," he says gently.

"April… What's wrong with Pam?" Dean asks again with more urgency.

"They took her… They're hurting her!" She screams.

This draws the attention of several of the people backstage. Colby gently guides April to a quieter area. Dean, Joe, Bill, Nikki, and I follow them.

"Who's hurting her, April?" Joe asks.

"They have them… They took them! They're hurting them!" April screams.

"April…" Colby wraps her tightly in his arms. "Show me," he whispers. "Show me what you saw."

April is trembling, but she nods. Colby looks into her eyes and I know he's reading her mind and seeing whatever horrible vision she just saw. He quickly begins stroking her hair. "We'll save them," he promises her. "It's okay."

"I couldn't break the vision… I couldn't get here to warn you… It's too late," April said, grief in her voice.

"We'll find them, April. I promise." He looks to Dean. "Harper and Thomas have Pam, Fergal, Lexy, and…" He pauses. "And Eric," he says as gently as he can. I already knew he was going to say it, but I wish I'd been wrong.

"Are they hurt?" Bill asks. "We have to go after them."

"Bill, it's too dangerous," Joe says. "Chaos could show up any second. You can't be there."

"Screw that!" Bill says, surprising all of us. "This is _Eric!_ And Pam and Lexy and Fergal! I'm not leaving them to be tortured, killed, or… Or _turned_!"

"Let him go," Colby says before anyone can protest further. "He's ready. He needs to do this." No one argues with him. If anyone understands what Bill is dealing with, it's Colby.

"Joe, go let Shane know to use our doppelgangers tonight so we can go right now," Dean says. "Colby, take care of April, and call Phil."

"I will," Colby promises. Joe hurries off to find Shane. Even though we're at RAW, he and Stephanie can both summon the doppelgangers, so I know he'll cover everyone who needs it for the night.

"You coming, too, Gracie?" Dean asks me.

"If you have to ask, you don't know me very well," I say.

"I figured you might say that. Anyway, I have no idea where to look, but-"

"I know where they'd take them," Nikki says, shocking all of us. We all stare at her. She shrinks slightly under our gazes before recovering. "They'd want to take them where they'd be the weakest. They won't view Lexy or Pam as threats, but they might knock Eric out, and they'll definitely go after Fergal… They'll probably bind him magickally, too, so he can't access his psychic powers."

Dean is the first to say something. "Are you offering to _help_ us?" He asks in confusion.

She hesitates and looks at Bill. Slowly, she nods. "Yes," she says. "I'll help you get them back."

"If you help us rescue them, you'll officially be on his shit list. He'll come after you without hesitating," Dean says.

"I know," Nikki replies. An expression I'm not expecting appears on her face. It's not fear; it's determination.

"Fine. You can come. But if you stab us in the back or try to screw us in any way, I swear to God, I'll slit your fucking throat."

"Noted," Nikki says. She looks at Bill again. "You said I could change, right? I'm giving it a try."

Joe comes back, and we head off because there's no more time to waste.

 _ **ERIC**_

My head is spinning. Everything is out of control. I can't even process what's happened in the time we've been here… It feels like it's been days, but I'm pretty sure it's only been five hours or so… Maybe a little longer. I replay the horror of it all in my mind, desperately trying to think up a plan to escape.

 _We woke up from the spell at the same time. The first thing I noticed was I was tied up, and tight at that. I couldn't move an inch, no matter how hard I tried. Fergal was across the room. Not only was he tied up, but he had a gag in his mouth and a spell around him so strong that I could physically see the energy. Somehow, I knew they'd bound him. It would be the smart thing to do. Of all of us, Fergal and his demon army were the biggest threat._

 _Lexy and Pam were between us. Lexy was closer to me. She was free, and she started moving slightly as she woke up. Pam sat up but didn't move. She looked at Fergal, and I could see him trying to reassure her with his eyes. I could feel the fear radiating off of her._

 _Suddenly, Harper grabbed Pam by her hair and pulled her to her feet. "We're going to have fun tonight," he said to Thomas. "She's a_ pretty _one,_ isn't _she?" He touched her in a way that made me wish I could punch him in the face or kick him in the nuts._

 _Fergal tried to say something, but it was too muffled behind the gag. "I want you to know something," Harper told him. "We're going to fuck your little girlfriend here all night, until she's screaming and bleeding, and then we'll keep going… And you can't save her."_

 _Fergal screamed against the gag. I might not understand the words, but I sure as hell understood their meaning. Pam looked like she might cry. "Don't you fucking_ touch _her!" I screamed. "I'll kill you both if you try!"_

" _I'd like to see you try," Thomas said. "You're pathetic." He gagged me, too. "We should have gagged him to begin with. This one never shuts up."_

 _Harper laughed. "Come on, Beautiful. We're going to go play." He began to drag Pam away._

" _Stop!" Lexy cried out. They turned back to stare at her. "Take me," she plead._

" _Lexy, no," Pam whispered. She was trembling._

" _Take me instead," Lexy said more firmly. "Please. I'll do whatever you want, just… Please,_ please _take me instead."_

 _My heart was breaking. Lexy's courage amazed me, and I wished I could do more to help. I couldn't let this happen. I couldn't let them take Pam away, because I knew whatever happened to her would be something that even_ she _wouldn't be able to bounce back from._

 _Fergal continued to struggle to free himself. I tried, too, but it was pointless. Lexy walked closer to Harper and Thomas. I knew she must be terrified, but she didn't let it show. "Please," she said again._

" _Your turn will come soon enough," Harper said with a cruel laugh. With that, he turned away again and dragged Pam off. Lexy immediately ran at him, jumping on him and trying to attack him. Harper had to release Pam. She tried to run, but Thomas grabbed her. Harper flung Lexy clear across the room and into a table. She hit her head and cracked it open. I watched her black out again and knew this was it. They were going to take Pam away and we couldn't do anything to save her._

 _Fergal screamed against the gag again and struggled. I spit the gag in my mouth out. Thomas hadn't gotten it in very securely. "Fergal, focus," I said urgently. "You have to calm down or we'll never get out of here." He nodded and I watched him struggle to flip the switch into Warrior Mode. I knew how much he loved Pam. We all did… But the two of them were especially close, and I knew it was killing something inside of him to know what they were probably doing to her._

My internal clock says over two more hours have passed, and now Lexy is finally starting to stir. She sees that Fergal and I are still tied up and tries to stand up. "I have to find her," she says.

"Lexy, you can't," I say. "They'll hurt you, too."

"I can handle it!" She tells me. I realize now that Lexy has been through some serious shit in her life. "Pam needs to be protected… She can't deal with this."

"Untie me and Fergal and we'll help," I say.

Lexy is already heading toward me when someone walks into the room. He sees her and runs toward her like a bulldozer, knocking her onto her back. "Mmmm… A _blonde_ ," Brock Lesnar says, and I know beyond a shadow of a doubt that we are completely fucked.

Lexy, to her credit, isn't giving up just yet. "So you can show up here to pick on Team Good, but you can't be bothered to come to pay-per-views to defend your championship?" She taunts him. She fake-coughs as she adds, "Paper champion!"

This infuriates Lesnar, but that's good. The angrier he gets, the more mistakes he makes. It's all of the steroids. They've completely rotted his brain. While Brock Lesnar is definitely one of the deadliest members of Team Baddie, his only claim to fame is brute force. He has super strength, but not much going on upstairs, and it's easy enough to distract him with a good old-fashioned 'Roid Rage. The problem is getting away from him once he flies into that.

"I'm gonna fucking kill you, your dumb bitch!" Lesnar cries out. "But not before I have my fun."

I realize Lesnar is not only planning to rape Lexy, but he's planning to do it right in front of me and Fergal. There's no way I can let this happen.

"Hey, Brock!" I call. He looks up at me in confusion. "How you doin'?" I ask. I literally have nothing else, but I'm a talker… A really _good_ talker. Maybe I can distract him long enough for Lexy to escape.

"Fuck off," Lesnar mumbles.

"Come on, is that anyway to talk to a co-worker? It's good to see you, man! How's the title doing? Have you taken it sight-seeing Dean Ambrose Style?"

"Shut your mouth, moron! You're distracting me."

That's sort of the point, and I have to bite my tongue to stop myself from pointing that out to him. "You know, performance anxiety's nothing to be ashamed of. It happens to a lot of guys… Not _me_ or anything, but _I'm_ a Certified G and a Bonafied Stud… But you know, with your… Um… _Recreational juicing_ , shit happens… Or _doesn't_ happen. Am I right?" I'm aware that it's incredibly stupid to piss Lesnar off, but I can't stop now. This is the only way I might be able to stop him from hurting Lexy. If he turns all of that rage toward me, she might be safe.

"I _said_ shut your fucking mouth! Or I'll shut it _for_ you!"

I wait for him to attack me, but he doesn't. Instead, he looks at Lexy and smirks. "You're too pretty to kill," he says. "I'm just going to chain you up in my basement and make you my bitch."

He starts to undress her and I'm cursing him out now and I don't even know what I'm saying anymore. Fergal's screaming incoherently behind his gag. I have to stop this. I can't let him hurt her. I can't watch this happen… But there's nothing I can do.

Suddenly, just as he unzips himself, I hear a loud sound I very much recognize… A gunshot. With that, Lesnar collapses on top of Lexy, but he's not moving. I'm completely stunned and confused when I see the man holding the gun.

Corey Graves pushes Lesnar off of Lexy. He kneels beside her and throws his coat over her because Lesnar ripped her shirt completely open. Lexy's shaking slightly as she looks at him in confusion. "Matty?" She asks, and I suddenly remember his real name is Matthew. "You… _You_ shot Brock?"

"He'll wake up eventually," Matty says with a shrug. "Chaos won't let Lesnar stay down long."

"But… Why?"

"I know what he would have done to you… I… I just… I couldn't let him, Lexy. Not to _you_."

"Why do _you_ care?"

"Because we used to be friends. We were _close_ , Lex."

"But then I found out what you did to those girls… And I called you a perverted creep and told you if you so much as spoke to me or any underage girls in my presence, I'd rip your nuts off with my bare hands."

"Yeah, and when I looked slightly skeptical, you dared me to try it… I believe you even screamed, 'Come at me, bro!'" He laughs sadly. "I deserved it, Lexy. I didn't realize it then… I told myself I loved those girls. The truth is, I know I manipulated them all into sleeping with me… When I lost my powers, I realized what a monster I'd been… It was like, now that I was as weak and defenseless and those girls, it made me see what I'd actually done. I don't want to be a monster anymore, Lex. I've changed."

"You're still on his team."

"I can't leave." He sighs. "If I try, he'll kill me, and I'm totally defenseless. I'll literally be a sitting duck. The only thing I can still do is shoot a gun or a bow and arrow. My perfect aim hasn't abandoned me. Everything else has."

Lexy shakes her head. "Are you going to let us go?" She asks.

"I can't… But I won't let anyone hurt you, Lexy. I swear it. And I'll do what I can to protect Fergal and Eric, too."

"Start by untying me," I suggest.

He shrugs. "I can do something," he says. He unbinds me almost entirely, leaving the ropes around my wrists mainly for show. "If they come back, they'll think you're still tied up."

I nod. "Thanks," I say awkwardly. Matty and I used to be friends, too, until I found out what he was capable of. Now, however, I see the friend I once believed in. Maybe this good and evil thing isn't as black and white as I originally thought.

"Get Fergal next," Lexy says. He nods and starts walking toward him. Lexy follows him and I see her hug him awkwardly. "Thank you, Matty," she says.

"For you? Anytime, Lex," he says. He's about to untie Fergal when something zaps him. He cries out in pain and curses.

"What happened?" She asks.

"They spelled the bindings. I can't untie him… I'd need the reversal spell. I don't know it."

I realize we're stuck. We're going to have to bide our time until the assholes come back, hopefully with Pam, and I can try to surprise them with an attack.

We don't have to wait very long. Harper comes in looking entirely too smug. Thomas is right behind him, and he's dragging Pam. She's not fighting him. She looks completely broken. I've never seen her like this. I want to kill them here and now, but I have to wait for the right moment or my attempt to fight will be pointless.

Fergal looks at Pam and I see tears in his eyes. I realize they've broken him, too. "Pam… Oh, Pammy…" Lexy whispers to her. Pam doesn't respond, but she starts shaking violently as Lexy gets closer to her, so Lexy tries to give her some space. Pam has fully retreated inside of herself and is catatonic. If we're going to escape, someone's going to have to carry her.

"What the hell happened?" Harper asks, the smirk vanishing as he sees Lesnar and the bullet hole in his head.

"I don't know, man," Matty says. "I came as soon as I heard the shot, but-"

"Bullshit! _You_ did this! You're the only one who could have hit him that perfectly in the center of his forehead!"

I know Matty's about to be screwed. It's now or never. I slip the last of the ropes off and attack Harper. He doesn't see me coming. That gives me an advantage, but not for long.

Thomas pulls me off of Harper. He starts beating the ever-living shit out of me. I've had that happen before. I'll be alright, but it really fucking hurts. I feel something pop and know my left shoulder just dislocated.

I might have worried, but all of a sudden, the cavalry arrives. I'm insanely relieved to see Dean and Joe come in and immediately go into ass kicking mode. I'm surprised to see Bill and Gracie, but it brings hope to my heart immediately and I find new strength to keep fighting even though I'm pretty badly hurt. I see Nikki behind them and decide not to question it. As Lesnar groans and stands back up, I see him immediately try to go for Lexy again. Nikki grabs him and kisses him for an obscenely long amount of time. Lesnar blacks out.

"Nikki, you can do _better_!" I shout at her. Why the hell would she kiss him? Then I remember she's a succubus and it clicks.

Nikki grabs Harper by the throat and I see how tight she's gripping it. She lifts him up. This is physically impossible, but she's doing it. She slams him into the wall and his eyes roll around in his head for a second. He doesn't black out, though, and he attacks her.

"Call him!" Harper croaks out to Thomas.

Bill's got Thomas pinned to a wall, but Thomas closes his eyes, and we can all feel the room shift. Chaos is coming and we're in trouble.

It doesn't help that the other minions show up, too. Stephanie appears and she immediately tries to go for Gracie. I attack her, not caring that she's a female. I'm not losing Gracie again. I back off slightly when I realize Stephanie's not fighting me. She looks terrified and I realize it's because Lesnar is awake again and coming toward us. Even Stephanie knows he's a wild card. He might hurt any one of us, no matter which team we're on.

Lexy's trying to cover Pam and keep the other minions away. Matty keeps a healthy distance, but I know he'll blow his cover and help if he has to. He really does want to change, and Chaos may know that now. We're going to have to protect him or he's a dead man.

Dean and Joe are struggling against Raj, who just appeared out of nowhere. He looks ready to slaughter everyone. They're barely able to defend themselves. I watch as Joe shoves his hands over Raj's arm. His nail pierces the flesh and Raj cries out as Joe sends some kind of drug into his veins. That's one of Joe's powers. He can either remove drugs from someone's system or put them there. Raj looks dizzy, but he doesn't pass out. I'm guessing Joe will need to add more into his system to get that to happen.

"Fergal!" AJ Styles shouts as he joins us. "I tracked you when I realized you weren't at RAW." He tries to touch the ropes and recoils. "Damn. Okay, hang on," he says. He begins reciting something and all of a sudden, the ropes fall away, although the spell binding his powers is still active. AJ pulls the gag out of Fergal's mouth.

"Get Pam out," Fergal says.

"You're hurt. Let me help-" AJ says.

"Forget about me. She needs you more."

Chaos pops up behind Fergal. On reflex, AJ moves in front of him protectively. "No!" He shouts. "You're not taking him!"

"Useless trash," Chaos mumbles. "I'm glad you left. You're not worth my time… But I see you've come back to die."

" _Try_ it, you bastard," AJ says. "At least I'll die on the right side."

Chaos laughs and traps Fergal in some sort of circle of energy. Fergal can't escape from it. "You're still not worth my time, Styles," Chaos says. "Just leave."

AJ waits for Chaos to turn around before trying to break the circle. He begins raising energy and I know he has a chance. His time on Team Baddie gave him a strong understanding of their magick. "No. Save _her_. Save _Pam_ ," Fergal insists. "Get her out of here. She can't take any more."

"I'm not leaving you behind, Fergal!" AJ protests. "You're my _brother!"_

" _Allen!_ If you were _ever_ my friend, you'll save Pam!"

AJ looks at Pam then and sees what the rest of us already have. "Shit," he mumbles. He goes to her and scoops her up into his arms. He looks at Lexy. "Are you okay? Your head's bleeding."

"I'm fine," Lexy says.

We all gather together as Chaos and his minions protect themselves in the circle Chaos trapped Fergal in. "Corey. Come," Chaos says.

"He betrayed you!" Harper says.

"I know this. I wasn't speaking to _you_ ," Chaos says harshly. Slightly gentler, he says, "Corey. You are mine. I know you acted impulsively for the girl. It's alright. I will forgive you if you prove yourself. Come with me."

"I…" Matty pauses. He looks at Lexy and says, "No, thank you."

"You know what will become of you if you walk away."

"I do." He closes his eyes for a moment before he opens them and adds, "I have no regrets."

"I'll see you soon, then." With that, Chaos sends his minions off. Only he and Fergal remain. He grabs Fergal around the throat with his claws and cuts into him slightly.

"No!" I scream. I know Fergal has a little bit of venom in him now, and it will slowly kill him.

"Fergal!" Lexy screams even louder. I think she might try and run at Chaos directly, but Gracie holds her back.

There's a cloud of darkness that suddenly fills the room. It vanishes just as quickly, and just like that, Fergal is gone. Lexy's crying now. It's Bill who pulls her into his arms. He can't help himself around a crying girl.

"We'll get him back," he promises her. I pray to God he's right.


	7. Chapter 7

**CHAPTER SEVEN**

 _ **GRACIE**_

I can't believe we had to leave Fergal behind. He's got venom in his veins. It's not nearly as much as Cody had, but the longer it's in him, the more damage it will do. A million scenarios run through my head. Chaos could have killed him by now. He could be torturing him. Worst of all, he may have turned him. We all know Fergal has an extremely pure heart, and if we'd doubted it, the way he just sacrified himself to save Pam would prove it. The idea of a true Warrior of the Light like Fergal being turned evil against his will is the scariest thing in the world.

We get to our first destination. "Jess," Dean says as she opens the door to the safe house belonging to the notorious Team Redeem. (I really think "Team Not Good Enough" is offensive, don't you? Even if they call themselves by that name all the time.)

"Dean," Jess replies. She looks at all of us. "Wow. Rough morning?" She notices AJ still holding Pam in his arms. His eyes are haunted. "What happened, Allen?" She asks. AJ looks at Pam and shakes his head.

"TJ!" Jess calls.

Tyson Kidd appears quickly. "What happened?" He asks.

"Take Pam inside. Get her to my room and keep an eye on her, but don't get too close once you put her down."

"I'm going with her," Lexy says softly.

"Go for it," Jess says.

TJ takes Pam from AJ's arms and doesn't argue. I can tell he knows what must have happened to her. He looks horrified. "Not Pam," he mumbles. "How could _anyone_ hurt her?"

"Go on," Jess says.

TJ nods and carries Pam inside. Lexy follows. Jess motions for us to follow her into the very large living room.

"Tell me what happened, Allen," Jess says. Since switching sides, AJ has been a loyal and hard-working member of Team Redeem.

"He... He made me leave him there," AJ says numbly.

"Who did?"

"Fergal. He made me get Pam out instead of him."

"Shit. We'll just have to rescue him then."

"He scratched him, Jess. Chaos scratched him and they vanished."

Jess understands. "We'll find him, Allen. Fergal's tough. If anyone can survive this, he can." She finally looks at the rest of us. "Okay, Danny told me Nikki would probably be coming to us, but Corey Graves? When did _you_ switch teams?"

"Just now," he says nervously. "Officially, anyway. It's been coming for a while, but I was too scared to leave."

Jess shrugs. "Welcome home. There's food and drinks in the fridge, and a nice supply of booze, too. Everyone, help yourselves. You guys look like hell."

"Just like that?" Matty asks. "I don't have to prove my loyalty or anything?"

"The blood oath's at midnight," Jess says, deadpan. Matty looks terified and she laughs. "Man, you're easy! Relax. You don't have to prove you've turned over a new leaf to join our team... Just that you _want_ to, and you do that through your actions as time goes on. Until then, we provide those who need it with sanctuary they won't find anywhere else. Just know that if you screw us, we fight back, and we don't play as nicely as Team Good over there."

He nods. "Thanks," he says.

"Don't mention it."

"So you're the leader?" Nikki asks. "You were on Team Baddie for all of ten seconds. And your boyfriend is one of Dean's best friends. Surely, he'd let you into his safe house."

"I was on his team for about three days, actually, but when I realized what I'd gotten myself into Knux and Bram brought me to this house and I decided I liked it here. There's less hypocrisy, no offense to the good guys. We're not good or evil... We're just a bunch of misfits trying to make better choices. Anyway, technically, Undertaker is the leader of Team Not Good Enough, but he can't be bothered to deal with these goons most of the time, so I keep everyone in line. I guess I was born to lead. Taker's magick initially made this house a sanctuary, but we've all added things to it since."

I can't help but think Team Redeem is like a halfway house for former criminals. Still, the way Jess runs things is pretty awesome. She must be the toughest woman on the planet.

"We have to go after Fergal," Eric says. "We can't just leave him to die."

"Whatever you guys need, we're in," Jess says. "You've got all of us at your disposal. I'll even call Mark and Glenn in if you need me to."

"Glenn's running for office," Joe says. "He can't be caught up in this mess. It would draw the wrong sort of attention."

"Vote Kane, Demon in Charge," Dean mumbles. "He'll burn the house down."

I laugh. Suddenly, a car pulls up outside. The door opens and in walks Sami Callihan, or Solomon Crowe as he was last known in WWE. He kisses Jess before noticing everyone else. "Mox!" He says with surprise. He pulls Dean into a hug. Sami's one of the only people Dean allows to call him Mox or Moxley... He's even occasionally gotten away with calling him Jonny. "What's Team Good doing here? Oh! And new additions! To Team Redeem, I take it?"

"Nikki and Corey have joined our side," Jess says.

"His name's Matty," Sami tells her.

"And he didn't have the balls to tell me that? Grow a set, Matty. You gotta speak up in this house."

"Noted," Matty says.

"Chaos has Fergal," Dean says. "His bitches had Eric, Pam, and Lexy, too, but we got them out. Pam's not in good shape."

"Those dickless bastards hurt _Pam?_ I want names. _Now_. Mox, where's your fork? I need to borrow her," Sami says.

"Down, Sami," Jess says. "We need a plan first. A smart one. Pam's in my room with Lexy and TJ. Go check on her. Maybe you can help her. I know you two got close at NXT. She's catatonic."

Sami softens with concern. "Yeah... Yeah, I'll go see her," he says. He walks away.

Jess looks at us. "Kitchen, guys," she says. "You need to eat, and then try to get some rest. We have plenty of rooms."

We don't argue because we all know we may need our strength very soon.

 _ **ERIC**_

I think sleeping will be impossible with how worried I am about Fergal, but exhaustion takes over and I black out. This turns out to be a horrible thing. I'm immediately plagued with the worst nightmares I've ever had in my life.

It starts off logically enough. I'm back in that room, watching helplessly as Pam is dragged away to face something no one should ever have to face. I watch Lexy as Lesnar attacks, but this time, he succeeds. I can't stop him. I can't move. I have to listen to her scream and cry as she tries to stop him. Then, Pam is back and they're hurting her in front of me, and I can't help her, either. Fergal is attacked by Chaos and I see them rip his heart out and remove his soul and stick them in canopic jars… Then he turns into Bill, and Leah's there, and I see what they did to him… And then Evil Bill attacks Gracie and beats her to death… I can't save anyone. I'm just forced to watch.

This brings up something I can't handle. It's something I literally won't talk about… My worst memory. My deepest fear… And it's playing out before my eyes all over again.

 _I was eight years old. My cousin Lucy, who I completely worshipped, was babysitting me. She was sixteen and the epitome of cool. We were watching television in the basement when we heard something upstairs._

" _Eric, stay here," Lucy said. I heard a guy cursing upstairs. "Don't come out from this room, do you understand? No matter what you hear, stay down here."_

" _Lucy, don't go," I begged her._

" _It's okay, Eric. It's just Henry."_

 _Henry was her ex-boyfriend. I knew the guy was trouble. Lucy had kicked him to the curb a couple of weeks before because he hit her and she refused to put up with that._

" _He'll hurt you," I insisted. "Please don't go up there!"_

" _I have to, or he'll come down here… You just stay here, okay? Stay safe."_

" _Lucy-"_

" _Take this and call 911, okay?" She handed me the phone. "I'll be back, Eric. I love you."_

 _Lucy went upstairs. She never came back. I heard them arguing, and I heard him throwing stuff around. I snuck up to the door as I sat on the phone with 911 and told them my cousin's ex was in the house and he was going to hurt her. They promised to come soon._

 _I looked through the gap under the door and saw them fighting. I heard Lucy crying and begging Henry to calm down… And then I heard her scream. He'd stabbed her. She fell to the floor, and I could tell she could see me looking through the gap. Her eyes begged me to stay quiet, so I did, but inside, I was screaming. I watched helplessly as her body jerked a few times and she kept crying, and then her eyes turned glassy._

 _I didn't come out from the basement. I didn't make a sound. I stopped speaking, which as you can probably guess was major for me. When the police came, I couldn't bring myself to say anything. He'd stabbed her six times. She'd bled out pretty quickly, so he must have hit something major._

 _It took me three days to finally find my voice, and I refused to talk about it. When the police asked me who did it, I pointed to a photo, but I couldn't say his name. This guy was a monster. He'd killed my cousin… And I'd just watched._

I'm screaming. I know I'm still asleep, but I can't wake up. I'm watching it all over again, only this time, Lucy stares at me accusingly. "You didn't save me!" She screams.

"I wanted to," I say desperately. "You made me promise… I wanted to help you." I'm crying now as her killer suddenly kneels down.

Henry looks through the gap and stares at me. "I'm coming for you next!" He tells me. He comes to the door and rips it off its hinges with _Hulk-_ like strength… You know, like _Raj_ would. Then he comes for me, and I know I'm going to die.

I'm screaming even more now as Lucy says, "You _deserve i_ t! This is _your_ fault! You're _useless_!"

Strong arms grab me and shake me until I am awake. I look into Bill's eyes and it takes me a minute to realize it's him. "Bill…" I whisper.

"It's okay, Eric. You're safe," he promises me. "I'm right here." He's not hesitating anymore. I can tell he's not currently worried that he might hurt me. He put all of that aside to be here for me.

I try to calm down, but I look behind him and I see Henry. I scream and Bill spins around, and then he screams, too. "How is he here?" He asks me. "This is a safe house! It's supposed to be protected!"

I'm confused. How does Bill even know who Henry is? "He's supposed to be in jail," I say. "For life."

"Jail? Eric, that's _Chaos_! No jail can hold him!"

"What? That's not Chaos, it's the bastard that killed my cousin!"

"No it's not! Can't you see him? He's right there! We have to run!"

Suddenly, the door swings open. "What the hell is all the noise about?" Jess asks. She freezes when she sees Henry. "Dean!" She shouts. "Get in here!"

Dean comes in. I can tell he hasn't even tried to go to bed yet. "What?" He asks. He looks into the room and pauses. "Abigail? What the hell are you doing here?"

"I _have_ to," Henry says.

"Abigail?" Bill asks. "But… I thought…"

"Stop it, Abigail," Dean says firmly.

"He's making me," Henry insists.

Dean closes his eyes. "Bray!" He shouts. Five seconds later, Bray Wyatt fucking materializes outta nowhere in the room. It's a neat trick.

"Abigail, _no,_ honey," Bray says gently.

"I can't stop it," Henry insists. "He's making me…"

Bray and Dean grab Henry in unison. Confusingly, they pull him into a hug. I don't understand until suddenly, Henry vanishes. Standing in his place is a little girl… She's maybe twelve or thirteen at most. She looks at me with haunted eyes and I'm still freaked out, but the vision finally stops. I feel Bill relax beside me.

"What the fuck is going on?" I ask.

"You got Sister Abigailed," Dean explains.

"I'm still lost," I say.

"Gentlemen… _This_ is Sister Abigail," Bray explains. "Queen of the Fear Demons and daughter of Pluto… She's our souls' sister."

I look at Bill. "Did _you_ know Sister Abigail was more than some weird gimmick?" I ask.

"Yeah, I did… I saw her with Chaos. He makes her work for him," Bill says. The look on his face is hard to read.

I shake my head. "Thanks for saving me," I tell him.

"I owed you. You've woken me up from my nightmares every night since I've been back," he replies.

I look up as Gracie comes into the room. "Are you okay? I heard screaming," she says.

"I'm good now," I promise. "Get your fine ass over here, Baby."

Gracie rolls her eyes before coming to my side. She crawls into bed and I pull her into my arms. I bury my face in her hair and I'm crying, but I try to cover it up.

"Let's take this outside," Dean says. I'm glad he's covering for me. No one else except Bill seems to realize I'm still freaking out.

Everyone except Bill and Gracie leave the room, including Abigail. Bill looks at me. "When we leave for the new hotel in the morning, book a room with two beds," he says.

"You're coming home?" I ask hopefully.

"I'm coming home," he confirms. "You need me, and I sure as hell need you, so it's stupid to keep hiding. Plus, it's cheaper to share a room." He hugs me. "Are you okay?"

"I will be," I promise. He nods. Bill's the only person outside of my family who knows about what Henry did to my cousin. I told him because I freaked out on the anniversary of her death after we met and he happened to find me. He's my brother. He deserved to know.

Bill leaves and I pull Gracie even closer. "What happened?" She asks me.

"Sister Abigail, apparently," I say.

"Wait, she's _real?"_ Gracie asks me.

"Yeah, apparently. And she's scary as fuck… She made me see things I never wanted to see again."

"Want me to shank a skank?"

I laugh. "Nah… Nah, she's a _kid,_ Gracie. I saw her after Bray and Dean got her free from Chaos' control. She's really young and I don't think she wanted to hurt me."

"Okay. But if she hurts you again, all bets are off."

"You're the best."

"I know." She kisses me. I feel calmer instantly.

"I love you," I tell her. I'm really starting to like saying that to her.

"I know. I love you, too." She wraps her arms around me. "You need sleep, Eric. You're still recovering."

"Joe popped my shoulder back in and the rest of the injuries aren't that bad."

"They hurt you. Don't play it down. I can feel it. Let me heal you, Eric. I can do that much."

"Okay, fine."

"And then, sleep."

"I'd rather not."

"I'll stay with you all night so you're not alone."

I like that idea. "I'll try," I finally say.

She nods. "Just relax and I'll have you healed in no time." She starts casting magick and I do relax. I trust Gracie and I know I'm in good hands.

 _ **BILL**_

I look at the girl Bray and Dean are holding back and realize if Bray hadn't wrapped her in his energy, we'd all be in a panic because our worst fears were with us.

"Hi, Abigail," I say cautiously.

She looks at me and I have to force myself not to look away. Even protected, her gaze is powerful and induces fear. "I didn't want to hurt the two of you," she says.

"I believe you," I say. "What's your deal, though? You work for Chaos, but you can get into this safe house. How?"

"She's not evil," Dean says quickly. "She's… _Misunderstood_."

"And she is our sister," Bray adds.

"You mentioned that earlier. I'm confused," I say.

Dean looks mildly bothered by what he says next. "It's not an incarnated thing, but our souls are siblings. My soul is Pluto's oldest son. That's why I can pull people back from the brink of death, and it's also why I'm basically immune to succubi and incubi. Bray's the next in line. It's why if I can't save someone, Bray usually can. His powers come from death, too, but he's a healer. Abigail is the youngest of the three of us. She doesn't incarnate. She's the queen of all the fear demons and she's basically unstoppable, but Pluto forces her to work for Chaos. She can't refuse him."

"How old are you?" I ask Abigail.

"Older than time," she replies. "However, eternally, my father keeps me at twelve years old. He likes me young. He believes it makes me easier to control." She seems nervous discussing her father, and I can tell how afraid of him she is. It's weird to the think the queen of the fear demons has a fear of her own, but apparently, she does. I feel an incredible amount of sympathy for the girl. I wonder if anyone other than Bray and Dean has ever shown her compassion.

"Isn't there a way to protect you from Pluto?" I ask.

She looks at me in confusion. "I am his daughter."

"I know. I also know what an abused kid looks like. There has to be a way to help you."

She pauses. "I see why Chaos wanted you so badly," she says finally. "Very few would care enough to try to help me. You are kind, Bill. Your heart is very pure."

"I don't _have_ a heart."

"You will. Cody is skilled. You will get it back."

"I hope so. I never knew I'd miss it so much." I hate how cold I feel. I am hoping getting my heart back will help with that.

Suddenly, something crashes downstairs. "You need to learn to stick your landings, Michael!" Jess complains.

"Sorry. I was _only_ running for my life from _Chaos_. I'll be more careful next time," Michael, or EC3, says sarcastically.

"He looks bad," Jess comments. I realize Michael may have just answered our prayers. Dean and Bray apparently realize the same thing, because they hurry downstairs. I follow them. Abigail looks at me as I pass her.

"Thank you," she says. "For showing me kindness. I know I terrify you. I'm sorry. I don't do it on purpose. I can't help it."

"It's okay," I say. "I know you don't. If I can ever help you, let me know."

She nods. "Go. Fergal needs help." She vanishes before my eyes.

I get downstairs and, sure enough, Fergal's lying on the living room rug. Michael has already vanished. "Where did Michael go?" I ask.

"To get Jules," Dean says. "The venom's spread pretty far."

"Fergal… Are you alright?" I ask.

"Considering, I'm great," Fergal says as he sits up. "I'm not dead, I'm not turned… It's a good day."

"Are you still bound?" AJ asks. I didn't even realize he was there.

"No." He looks at me. "Yer Shaman friend found me through the spirit realm and unbound me. Bit of a nasty surprise for Chaos when my demon army showed up… It helped keep him at bay… And the adrenaline kept me going… But I'm hurt. The venom… It's spreading too quickly now."

"Remind me to thank Casey," I say.

"Don't ever scare me like that again, you fucker," AJ mumbles. I think he might punch Fergal, but he kneels beside him and hugs him tightly instead.

Suddenly, Michael appears. The landing isn't as bad this time. Jules is with him and so is Randy. "Oh, God…" Jules mumbles, seeing Fergal. She looks at Jess. "Do you have a knife?"

Jess pulls one out of her pocket. Jules makes a cut on her wrist, although it's not that deep. She immediately puts her wrist over Fergal's mouth so her blood can cleanse the venom out of his veins.

"Careful, Julianne," Bray says gently. "He's taking too much too quickly."

"I'm okay," Jules says.

"Jules…" Randy says cautiously. "He's right. You need to slow him down."

"I… I'm okay," Julies insists.

I see something odd then. Some of Fergal's demons, who should be invisible to me in that moment, are becoming visible. They're trying to take her blood, too.

"It's the demons," I say. "They're feeding on her."

"That wasn't part of the deal," Randy says sharply. "Jules, pull back."

"I can't," Jules says. For the first time, she's very unsure of what to do. Jules is usually in control, but she's never had armies of tiny demons try to feed from her before.

I can tell how weak she's getting. "Fergal, stop them," AJ says suddenly. "They're going to kill her… And if Jules dies and I don't stop it, the Bucks will kill _me_." AJ and Jules have a history from when he was evil. They've gotten past it for the most part, but the Young Bucks are very protective of Jules and if anything happens to her on AJ's watch, he's right; they'll kill him for it.

"Aye, me wee ones… Fall back now," Fergal says firmly. "Let the wee lass go. Tha's no' fer ye." His accent is always stronger when he commands the demons. When one stubbornly refuses to release Jules, he adds, "Aye, ye wee cunt! Be gone wi' ye!" That demon vanishes with a high-pitched shriek.

Jules looks like she might collapse, but Fergal looks significantly stronger. "I'm sorry, lass," Fergal says to her. "Are ye alright?"

"I'm…" Jules begins. I watch as she blacks out.

Randy catches her before she can hit the ground. He lifts her up in his arms like she's a small child. "Do you have a spare room?" He asks Jess.

"Yeah, come on," Jess says. She leads him away.

"Will she be alright?" I ask.

"She just needs to rest," Michael reassures me. "Randy will take care of her. He always does."

I nod. I look at Fergal. "How do you feel?"

"A million times better physically," he says. "Where's Pam? Is she alright?"

"I got her here," AJ says. "But she's in bad shape, Fergal… She's not responding to anyone. Lexy and TJ have been with her since we got here."

Fergal curses. "I need ta see her… She needs me," he says.

"I'll take you to her," I say.

"Thanks… And Allen… Thank ye. If ye hadna' gotten her out of there… I don't know what would have happened." He hugs AJ before following me.

We arrive at the room. I knock and TJ opens the door. He sees Fergal and sighs with relief. "Thank God. Are you okay?" He asks.

"I am, thanks," Fergal says. "Any change?"

"No… She's not doing well. We called in Heath briefly to heal her, but she's still not responding."

"Let me see her."

"Okay." TJ leaves.

"Fuck yeah!" Sami cries out at the sight of us. "Welcome back!"

Lexy looks up and sees us, too. "Fergal!" She cries out. She runs to him, flinging her arms around his neck and dangling for a moment before finally releasing him. "I was so scared…" She whacks his arm. "Don't ever do that again, you asshole!"

"I had to protect Pam," Fergal says.

"I know, but it's still not okay! You could have been… You… He could have…" She shakes her head, unable to pick a sentence.

"Just like ye could have been tortured if they'd taken ye up on yer offer, wee lass. Ye love her as much as I do."

"Offer?" I ask.

Lexy looks at me sadly. "I tried to get them to take me instead of her… It didn't work," she says.

I have even more respect for Lexy than I already did. "You still tried. That was courageous."

"Hardly." She shrugs.

"Pam…" Fergal whispers. He sits beside her on the bed. "Pammy… I'm here, Pammy. Yer safe now."

I don't expect much, but Pam suddenly looks at him. "Fergal?" She whispers.

"I'm right here, Pammy," he promises again.

"Fergal…" She starts sobbing hysterically. It's hard to watch, but it's better than her being unresponsive. Now that Pam is aware again, she can try to process what happened to her. She buries her face in Fergal's shirt and weeps with her entire body.

"Let's give them some privacy," I suggest to Lexy and Sami.

Sami immediately gets up and says, "I should check in with Jess." He walks away.

Lexy nods. We leave the room and close the door. When we're outside, Lexy lets out a breath. "God…" She whispers. "Holy hell…" She starts to cry, too. I pull her into my arms automatically. I keep her there as she lets out everything she's been holding in. Finally, after several minutes, her breathing calms down and she wipes her tears away. She misses one and I automatically wipe it away with my thumb.

"Better?" I ask.

"Yeah," she says. She hugs me. "Let's go. I need coffee." I don't argue. Coffee sounds good. The last thing either of us wants to do right now is sleep.


	8. Chapter 8

**CHAPTER EIGHT**

 _ **ERIC**_

I'm so relieved to see Fergal the next day, I forget about everything else. We have to leave soon, but Jess feeds us first, which I'm grateful for. I'm fucking starving.

The doorbell rings. Jess goes to open it and pauses. "Nikki, I think it's for you," she calls.

Nikki looks up as John walks into the room. "So it's true?" He asks.

"John..." Nikki says with surprise. "You need to stay away, John… He's going to kill you if he thinks you matter to me."

"Forget all of that for a minute. Are you _really_ changing sides?"

"I'm trying to..."

John looks skeptical. Then he notices Randy, who's sitting next to a still-paler-than-usual Jules and keeping her in a steady supply of caffeine.

"She helped you guys?" John asks him.

"She did," Randy confirms. "She took on Harper from what I hear." None of us have said that out loud, so Randy must have heard our thoughts. He pauses. "You _can_ come back, John. We all know what Devin meant to you. We understand why you lost it."

John hesitates. "I betrayed you guys."

"You had a nervous breakdown after the first woman you ever loved _died_. It happens. Your past actions don't have to define you, John… Not if you stop acting like a weak, pathetic loser and be the man I know you still are." His words are clearly meant to sting. Randy's probably the only person who could get away with saying that to John.

"Randy-"

"No, John. As much as you're a pain in my ass, you're a _good_ man. And if we can help _Nikki,_ we can sure as hell help the man who once led Team Good."

"I was _never_ the leader. That was Taker."

"But whenever Taker couldn't be around, you were the one who always stepped up to keep our asses in check, and you were good at it. People listened to you."

"Dean's a better leader than I ever was."

"He's different than you," Jules says softly, "but you did a good job, John."

He looks at her then. "If _you're_ here, things must have really gone sideways."

"That they did... But they're better now." She pauses. "John, your whole gimmick is 'never give up.' So _why_ would you give up on _yourself_?"

"She's got a point," I say.

John sighs. "I just came here to see Nicole," he says.

Nikki hesitates. "John... You followed me to the dark side. Follow me here." She looks at Jess. "If he wants to, can he stay?"

Jess shrugs. "We don't turn anyone away," she says. "If you want in, you're in. Same rules apply to everyone. Have our backs and we'll have yours. Fuck us over and we'll make you wish you'd never been born."

John nods. "I'll think about it," he says, but I know he's already decided. More than anything, John wants to be one of the good guys again. He was never evil to begin with, not really.

"We need to get moving," Dean says. He pauses. "Sami, can you play driver and bring Pam and Fergal to my safe house? Pam needs to be there. She's too skittish to stay here around some of the members of Team Not Good Enough."

"Sure, I've got them," Sami says.

"Shane's already aware that he needs to use their doppelgangers for a while. Tell Fergal not to worry about anything but Pam."

Lexy walks in and she's pretty much vibrating from too much caffeine consumption. "Are you coming or should Shane use your double, too?" Dean asks her.

"I'm coming," Lexy says. "I can't stay here doing nothing."

"Do you need a lift?" Joe asks.

"We can take her," Bill says immediately. I am guessing he's feeling extra protective of her given what she just went through.

"Great," Lexy replies. "I guess I'm all set."

"Um... _I_ sort of need a ride," Matty says awkwardly. I think he expects what happens next.

Joe glares at him. If looks could kill, he'd be six feet under. Joe and Dean both have a personal issue with Matty. He's the reason someone they both love is in a coma. He fried her brain with so much electricity, she doesn't function anymore. Dean looks at Joe and shakes his head. "That wouldn't end well for you," Dean informs Matty. "I could call someone... Or if John's coming, maybe he could give you a lift."

"Nicole and I aren't officially back yet," John says.

"You can ride with me, Matty," AJ says quickly. Matty looks grateful. "Fergal isn't coming, so I have plenty of room."

"Do we need to pick up Gallows and Anderson?" Matty asks.

"No, they ride together. I try to avoid them on the road now... Too much of a chance I'll get handed off to Chaos."

"They're dark side?" Gracie asks with surprise. "I thought the Bullet Club was on the right side because Fergal and the Bucks won't tolerate anything else."

"We are, mostly," AJ says. "I fucked up for a while, but almost everyone else stays on the right side, even if a few of us just barely toe the line... Andy's a good guy, but Chad's a dick. He's definitely crossed that line more than once. Andy tries to keep pulling him back, but we all know that's not always enough."

"Which one's which again?" I ask. Don't judge me. There are a lot of people in WWE and most of them have two names, if not more. It's hard to remember real names sometimes, which is why a lot of guys just use kayfabe ones.

"Andy's Gallows and Chad's Anderson," Bill reminds me.

"Right."

"Okay. Let's get the fuck out of here," Dean says. He looks at Jess. "Thanks for having our backs."

"Anytime, asshole," Jess says. She gives him a hug and dismisses the rest of us. "Matty, if you have an emergency, use this. It will transport you back here." She hands him a talisman. "Chaos _will_ come for you, and this is the only place you'll be safe."

He nods. "Thank you," he says.

We leave the house. Bill drives. "Shotgun!" Lexy declares. That's usually my spot, but the idea of sitting next to Gracie is appealing, so I don't argue. As soon as we get beyond the barriers, my chest tightens. I can feel that we're no longer protected. Anyone can find us. I feel exposed.

Gracie squeezes my hand. "You okay?" She asks.

I'm trying to hide my panic attack. I thought I stopped having those when I was still a teenager, but it seems they're back. With everything that's happened, I guess it makes sense.

I take a deep breath. "I'm fine," I lie. The panic is getting worse. My breathing grows rapid even as I try to control it.

"Eric... It's okay to not be okay," Gracie says gently. She leans over and kisses me. I feel like she's breathing life back into me.

"Do you need me to turn back?" Bill asks.

"No," I say firmly. "We can't turn back. We just need to keep going." I'm pretty sure I'm not talking about getting to work, no matter what I tell myself, and I'm fairly certain all three of them know it. No one disagrees.

 _ **BILL**_

We have several hours to drive four states away for WWE's next stop. We decide to stop for lunch once we hit Connecticut. It's familiar territory and there's a Denny's every couple of miles. We stop at one and relax as we do something ridiculously normal in the face of all of the craziness we've just dealt with.

Everything is fine until we pay and leave. Gracie goes to the bathroom, and the rest of us step outside. I walk straight into Leah and James Ellsworth. "Bill!" She says with surprise. Apparently, this wasn't intentional.

James looks at me smugly before he notices Lexy. I see him take an unconscious step back. I know Lexy's highly amused by this, but she keeps it to herself.

Leah moves closer to me. "Bill, we need to talk," she says.

Eric steps in front of me protectively, which is almost comical given he's so much shorter than me. "Back the fuck up, bitch!" He says once he's made certain there are no small children around.

"Bill, please... I just want to explain," Leah says.

"There's nothing to explain," I say coldly. "You made your stance perfectly clear when you cut out my heart."

Her face falls slightly. I can't bring myself to care. I'm suddenly glad my heart is still out of my body. This is hard enough as it is without it.

"You just can't see it because you don't have your heart," Leah insists. "I know you still love me."

I am saved from responding as the unexpected happens. As soon as Gracie comes outside and sees Leah, she charges toward her. "You fucking _bitch!"_ She shouts. Gracie proceeds to start beating the shit out of Leah.

"Gracie-" I start to say.

Eric touches my arm. "Don't," he says. "Just let her go, Bill."

"You ordered my best friend to fucking _beat me_ to death!" Gracie shouts. "You cut out his heart and turned him into a monster and just stood back and fucking _laughed!"_

I feel guilty, but I know she's right. It wasn't my fault. It was Leah's.

"I'll kill you!" Leah yells as she tries to fight back. "You don't matter! They won't even notice!"

Gracie knocks Leah down. "You're not laughing _now,"_ Gracie declares.

"You can't touch me!" Leah yells. "I'm Ms. Money in the Bank!"

"I don't give a fuck about kayfabe! I'm still at NXT! What are they gonna do? Fire me? I'll go back to the indies with a smile on my face!"

Gracie's hits are coming quicker. Leah can't defend herself. She's a prep girl from Massachusetts. Gracie's just introduced her to a genuine Brooklyn Beatdown. Leah doesn't stand a chance.

James tries to get involved, prompting Lexy to attack him. She has him in a full-on submission hold in seconds.

"Okay! I quit! Mercy!" James shouts. When Lexy finally lets him go, he shakes his head. "The chicks in this company are all fucking insane! Leah, I'm going to eat. Come on in if you survive this." He leaves us.

Gracie smashes Leah's head against what appears to be her rental car. Leah is bleeding. I feel exceptionally torn as I continue not to do anything, but Eric's right. Gracie needs to get this out.

"Oh, crap..." Lexy mumbles. She suddenly jumps in between the two of them. "Knock it off!" She shouts. "Neither of you is the queen of this company! _I_ am, and I get to tell you when you can and can't pull stuff like this! Neutral corners, girls! Hey, Big Cass, keep your girlfriend in line! And _you,_ Grace Marie? Go back to NXT!"

I'm very confused but her choice of words tells me enough. There must be a fan nearby or Lexy wouldn't be in character and using our ring names.

"Carmella! _Chill!_ " I say because Leah's about to cheap-shot Gracie. "She ain't worth it."

Leah seems to realize what's going on now. "Come on, Baby, let's go inside," she says. She links her arm through mine. I feel even colder than what's become normal for me.

Eric, being a true professional, seems to realize I'm screwed. I literally _have_ to go with her. I can see the fans now, and at least two of them are recording all of this from a spot they probably assume they're safely hidden in. Eric looks at me and says, "Keep her away from my girl!"

"Your girl? Like _any_ girl would want _you!"_ I say. I hate being cruel to Eric, but I have to keep up my new heel gimmick.

Eric suckerpunches me in the gut. I double over. He leans in. "Sell it. Take the fall. I got you," he says softly. Then he hits me in the head. I stumble backward and he pushes me into the wall of Denny's. I fake hitting my head on it before I fall down hard and proceed to pretend to be unconscious.

"Go on, Carmella. Run along and play with that loser Ellsworth," Eric says.

Leah looks at Gracie and Eric before running inside. All we can do now is wait for the fans to leave. They are still trying not to be noticed, so Lexy takes over. "That was great, guys. We'll shoot it _just_ like that. Hunter will _love_ it," she says.

I sit up and show I'm unharmed. "Yeah, it's gonna be great," I say.

The fans slip away. I wait until Lexy says, "We're clear," before I shake my head.

"How screwed do you think we are?" Eric asks.

"I'm probably fired," Gracie says. "I'm sorry, guys... I just lost it."

"You're entitled," Lexy says. "We'll make sure you don't get fired. I think spinning it as an angle should help. You know how jaded our fans are. They think everything is a work anyway. It won't be hard to convince them this was, too."

I hope she's right. I realize I'm shaking when Eric asks, "Are you alright, brother?"

"I'm fine," I lie. I'm _anything_ but fine. I've been avoiding Leah since I got my soul back. Seeing her and feeling her touch on my flesh was harder than I expected it to be. I don't know what I'm feeling... Pain, grief, anger, disgust, love... Any of them are possible. I want to hate her, and I kind of do, but seeing her hurt was hard for me. I still care about her, and that pisses me off. What the hell is _wrong_ with me?

"Let's get out of here," Lexy suggests. "I'm driving." I shrug and toss her the keys. Her face lights up and she gets in the driver's seat. I sit beside her and Eric and Gracie share the backseat again. We all silently seem to agree not to further discuss what just happened.

 _ **GRACIE**_

I know I'm in trouble because as soon as we check into the hotel, Paul comes to find me. Eric steps protectively in front of me. "Trips," he says cautiously. "How you doin'?"

"Relax, Eric. I'm still me," Paul reassures us. "This is strictly business. I need to talk to Gracie."

"And to the Principal's Office I go..." I mumble. WWE's been fun while it lasted, but I'll be okay on the indies. I did fine on them before. We're even already in New York, so it won't be hard to get home. The only reason I'm staying in the hotel is to be closer to everyone.

We're alone in his office for these shows. "Gracie..." Paul shakes his head. Then, to my surprise, he laughs. "You really kicked her ass."

"Um... Yeah. Well, bitch is from Red Sox Land. She can't hang with me in a street fight," I say.

"More like a parking lot brawl..." He shakes his head again. "Look, Vince called me and flipped out about the video. It's everywhere... He's pissed one of my 'NXT Toddlers' as he put it made our newly re-crowned Ms. Money in the Bank look weak... But thanks to Lexy's quick thinking and the fact that you guys got in character quickly, I think we can salvage this. I'm putting you in a dark match tomorrow."

"I assaulted your top girl and I'm being rewarded with a match?" I ask. "Shit, if I'd known it were that easy, I'd have done that _ages_ ago."

"Don't push it. You're lucky Lexy got involved when she did or I'd have no choice but to fire you. I talked to Shane. We're going to do a cross-brand storyline... We'll work up to it, build the storyline for a bit before you guys have a match. You'll be booked as Enzo's new girlfriend and Carmella and Cass will battle you and him."

"But Bill can't... It's not fair to make him work with Leah."

"You're right, Gracie. It's not... But it's our only option if we want to salvage this mess."

I feel incredibly guilty suddenly. I really should have thought before I acted, but that's not one of my strong suits. I get a match out of this, which is great, but Bill's about to be put in a really bad position.

 _ **ONE DAY LATER…**_

 _ **ERIC**_

None of us are overly thrilled by the turn of events. I'm happy for Gracie and so is Bill, but we all know this could backfire. Still, Paul's right. The very public scene in the parking lot left us with no choice. Bill has agreed to try and suck it up and get through it. At least if he's tagging with Leah on screen, she can't hurt him.

"We need stress relief," Lexy complains. "We've been through way too much shit in the last couple of weeks…"

" _Spiderman_ is coming out tonight," Gracie says. Leave it to my geek girl. "We're going to see it. My treat."

"Sounds like a plan," I say. "I mean, I'm working the house show with Bill, but if there's a showing afterward…"

"There's a midnight showing not far from the venue. We should make it with plenty of time. I'll just buy our tickets ahead of time."

"Going to see a Marvel movie is always a good way to relax," Bill says. "Good idea, Gracie. I'm in."

"I'm _so_ there," Lexy chimes in.

That's how, several hours later, after a mediocre house show, we find ourselves in a movie theater. To keep people from recognizing and harassing us, Gracie insisted we cosplay. I don't know how she got us all to agree to this, but she did. Gracie has on a Venom costume. She's got Lexy dressed up as classic Aunt Mae, with an old lady wig and glasses. She's hardly recognizable. Bill is dressed up as Iron Man. I'm dressed as Spiderman. I mean, really, who _else_ would I be? Spiderman's all snark and sarcasm and running his mouth at inappropriate times. He's like my comic book twin.

For the first time in what seems like decades, we all relax. Even Bill seems to forget everything he's been through. Watching him laugh makes me feel so much better. Things are almost normal. We needed this more than I think any of us realized. It's this one peaceful moment that I'm going to hold on to when we inevitably face the battle that's still ahead of us.

 _ **ONE DAY LATER…**_

 _ **BILL**_

I'm a nervous wreck as I arrive at Dean's safe house. They're waiting for me. Eric and Gracie aren't far away, but they were asked not to come tonight. Dean is worried it will be too hard on them.

I walk downstairs into the basement. Cody is standing by a long table. Jules and Colby are both down there, too. I see the canopic jar Jules is holding and realize it's my heart.

"Bill," Cody says. "It's good to see you." He hugs me.

"Same here," I say.

"I've purified as much of your heart as I can before it's back in your body," Cody explains. He hesitates. "The way we're doing this is a little bit different than the usual method… Generally, I put the heart back in before the soul, and the body… Well, it's always dead."

I look at him. "Are you going to have to kill me?" I ask. I feel sick. I remember dying. I remember being trapped in my body afterward, and being torn out of it. I don't want to go through that again.

"No," Cody says quickly. "Unfortunately, you're going to be alive when I do this, Bill… And it's going to hurt. It's going to hurt more than anything else in your life ever has… Take the worst pain you can imagine and multiply it by a thousand… If you were anyone else, it might shatter your mind… But I have faith in you, Bill. You're so strong… You were strong enough to split part of yourself and keep it safe when Chaos turned you. No one else has ever pulled that off. If anyone can survive this trauma, it's you."

"I understand," I say. It's the truth. I know this is going to be rough, but I try to mentally prepare myself for it anyway.

"I'll be here the entire time, Bill," Colby says gently. "And afterward, when you're whole, I'll help you through it."

"I'm not going to just adjust and be fine, _am_ I?" I ask.

"No one ever comes back from being turned exactly the same as they were before. It changes people… But I can help you figure out who you are now, and you'll be alright eventually." I know it's true. I've seen the haunted look in Colby's eyes. I've seen it in the eyes of everyone who's been turned. Sanada from TNA. TJ Perkins, our cruiserweight, who likes to pretend it never happened. Eric Young, who is still so damaged by it that he twitches and panics at the slightest bit of stress. Drew Gulak, who still doesn't have his heart or his soul, but who was cured by Brian and his gift of Clarity. (Drew is actually the reason we found out what Brian could do. No one knew until Brian, in desperation, grabbed Drew by the arm to try to stop him from doing something and all of a sudden, Drew was himself again.) So many people's lives have been destroyed by Chaos and his minions and this ritual. I don't want mine to be one of them. I want to survive this. I want to find a way to cope.

"You'll have your heart and soul back," Colby says and I know he's reading my mind. "It will be easier for you to heal than, say, Gulak, or Missy Sampson, or Annie Social."

"Fucker," Dean mumbles. "Turning my CZW friends and then hiding their jars where no one can find them."

"That's why we have Brian," Cody says. "At least Gulak and Missy are mostly themselves again… And if we ever get him near Annie, he'll fix her, too."

"How many people have been turned?" I ask.

"More than most people realize," Colby says. "But I can feel you. Every time he turns someone, I feel it… It may take me a while to make sense of it and realize who his victim was, but I always feel it happen… I hear your thoughts… Feel your panic…" He shakes his head. I can see how hard this is for him. "And I save those I can… I've botched more than a few of his attempts by getting help to the people he was trying to turn… Including Brian."

"He tried to turn Brian?"

"Can you think of anyone who's a bigger threat to him? Brian didn't know it at the time, but he can literally cure the victims of that ritual… Of course Chaos would want to destroy him, and if he couldn't, he wanted to control him."

"Guys… It's time," Cody says. "Are you ready, Bill?"

"As ready as I'll ever be," I say.

"I'm going upstairs," Dean says. "Good luck. If you need me, have Colby tell me."

Dean leaves us. Jules looks at me. "You're going to be okay, Bill," she promises me. She gives me a hug. "I'm lending Cody as much energy as I can for the ritual. Together, we'll try to make it easier on you."

"I can take it," I say. I hope that's true.

I lay down on the table after removing my shirt. I close my eyes and take several deep breaths as I feel Cody and Jules casting their magick. After several minutes, Cody takes the jar from Jules and pulls out my heart. He holds it over me, chanting in a language I don't recognize, and I feel the power surrounding us. He looks at me. "I'm sorry," he says. "This is _really_ going to hurt. I'll try to get it done as quickly as possible. Just think of something good and hold on to it, okay?"

I nod. I pull Eric into the front of my mind. I can do this. I _have_ to. He needs me.

As Cody cuts my chest open, I cry out, but it's not that bad. The pain doesn't become unbearable until he places my heart back inside of my body. I feel every vein reattaching. I feel every nerve activating. I feel the emotions that were just out of my reach before. I feel my body trying to mend itself back together, flesh to flesh, artery to artery, muscle to tissue. There's too much pain to process. I begin screaming, and I'm pretty sure once I start that I'll never be able to stop.

 _You're almost there, Bill. Just hold on,_ Colby says. I realize his voice is in my mind, which means Colby's in my head. He's letting himself feel all of this with me just so I know I'm not alone. This gives me strength.

 _Eric,_ I think. _Eric. Gracie. Lexy. Pam. Fergal._ I begin reciting the name of everyone Chaos has screwed, everyone who matters to me. _Nikki. Nikki risked everything to save me. Don't let it be for nothing._

I feel Colby reinforce these thoughts. He's trying to help me think of anything but the pain. Eventually, after a long time, my screams become whimpers. I can do this. I can make it through this. I just have to hold on to the ones who matter to me for a little bit longer and this will be over. I can get back to them.

 _Leah._ I think her name against my will and it hurts more than anything else has. Leah betrayed me. I loved her. I did everything in my power to save her… And she cut out my heart. She betrayed me. She betrayed all of us.

I'm whimpering louder now, and suddenly, I start to scream again as the pain grows worse. "His heart's racing too much… He's going to go into cardiac arrest if we don't calm him down," Cody says.

"Colby! Help him!" Jules cries out.

"I'm _trying!_ " Colby says. "It's Leah. He thought about her, and it was too much."

 _Bill… You processed this, Bill,_ Casey's voice reminds me. I try to hold on to her. She's been in my head more than anyone. She understands. _You already know what she did and how you need to handle this._

 _I can't,_ I think. _It's too much. It hurts, Casey… It hurts so much._

 _You're strong, Bill. You're so much stronger than you know. You can do this,_ Casey insists. Just like with the pain in my soul, Casey helps my heart slightly, but it's not enough. My body is in so much physical pain that it's focusing on the one thought that hurts me the most emotionally… Leah. And it pushes Casey out of my head.

"Push his mind to something else," Jules says.

"I can't. He's holding on too tight," Colby says. I barely hear them.

"Cody, have you got this?" Jules asks.

"Yeah. Help him," Cody says.

I feel Colby take my hand. Suddenly, he and Jules are both in my head, and instead of seeing Leah, I see life before her… Something that erases her entirely. It's just me and Eric on a basketball court, two kids who became brothers… This is the only thought in my head. I can't even remember why I was upset.

My heart rate is slowing down. My breathing is evening out. I'm starting to relax. Colby doesn't let go of my hand, but Jules eases out of my head to help Cody end the spell. When it's over, I'm crying, but otherwise, I'm okay. I open my eyes and slowly sit up. Colby helps keep me steady.

"Just breathe, Bill," Colby says. "It's over now."

I nod. Colby turns to Jules. "You doing okay, Jules?" He asks.

"Yeah… A little tired, but I'll be alright," Jules replies. "Cody?"

"I… I'm a little bit… Dizzy…" Cody mumbles. He proceeds to sit down next to her on the couch and black out immediately.

"Is he okay?" I ask.

"He'll be fine," Jules says. "He just needs rest."

A minute later, the door opens. Randy comes downstairs. He looks at me. "You good?" He asks.

"I think so," I say.

Randy nods and scoops Cody up in his arms. He carries him upstairs without a word. "He'll take care of him," Colby reassures me. "Randy always looks out for Cody."

I'm shaking worse than I can ever remember shaking before. I'm not as cold anymore, and I don't feel completely empty, but what filled the void that used to be inside of me is more pain than I ever realized I could feel. It's not physical pain anymore. I don't even have a scar from where Cody cut me open. Apparently, the ritual he and Jules just did healed the wound. I know, however, that it will take much longer for the emotional pain to disappear.

"We're with you, Bill," Colby tells me. "The three of us decided to do for you what we've done for very few others… We're going to help you process everything. As telepaths, we can do that for you… Experience your pain and make you understand it and cope with it much quicker than you would on your own."

"Didn't that almost kill you the first time you did it?" I ask.

"That's because I tried to do it by myself. That's why the three of us are connected forever. I got lost in someone's head and Randy and Jules came in after me and pulled me back out. I wouldn't be here without them."

"Is it safe?"

"For you? Yes, absolutely. For us? As long as we're together."

"You don't have to…"

"Bill… You're in pain," Jules says. "We _want_ to help."

Randy reappears. "Cody's out, probably for the next twenty-four hours or so, but he's in better shape than he could be. I don't think we're going to see the return of Stardust or anything," he says. "So, let's do this." I watch him take Jules' hand in his hand. She takes Colby's. Colby takes mine.

"Now what?" I ask.

"Now, you sleep," Randy says. "And we help you find yourself."

That sounds impossible, but as I drift off to sleep, I do feel better. Everything that's happened is overwhelming, but I'm whole again. I know I can finally start to heal now. Part of me knows that Casey the Shaman is right. I already know what I have to do. I just have to accept it and cut Leah out for good. The problem is, that's easier said than done, especially now that we're going to have to play the loving couple in front of millions of people. This is going to be the hardest act I've ever had to put on in my life.


	9. Chapter 9

**CHAPTER NINE**

 _ **ERIC**_

Gracie and I fell asleep in each other's arms last night. I don't think either of us could deal with Bill's pain. Even though we weren't with him, we both knew he was suffering. I could hear his screams… I can't think about that.

"Eric? You okay?" Gracie asks me as she wakes up.

"Yeah," I say. I try to shake off the events of the previous night. "Do you think Bill's up for visitors yet?"

"Dean promised to call us," she reminds me gently.

"I hate waiting."

"I know you do… But he needs time."

I grumble an incoherent response. Right now, I hate time, too. I wish I could just see him already… I need to see for myself that he's alright.

Gracie seems to realize I'm not doing so well with the whole waiting thing. She kisses me to distract me, and I'm good with that for a minute. The problem is, even that's not enough.

"I hate it, too," she tells me. I nod. At least Gracie understands.

We both get ready to handle the day ahead. I hope I'll be able to see Bill sometime today, but there's other stuff I need to do, too. This includes swinging by my mother's house to see her. I do it every time I'm in town. My Ma means the world to me, and right now, I really need to see her.

"You wanna come meet my Ma?" I ask Gracie.

She blinks at me. "Seriously?" She asks.

"Yeah. You're my girlfriend. That's what girlfriends do."

"Is it too soon?"

"We've been friends for a while. You've been a huge part of my life for ages already. She'll want to meet you."

Gracie nods. "Okay," she says.

So, a little while later, we're at my Ma's place. Ma opens her arms and pulls me into a much-needed hug. "Eric!" She says. "I missed you!"

"I missed you, too, Ma," I say. "This is Gracie. She's my girlfriend."

Ma looks her over. "Welcome, Gracie," she says warmly, apparently deciding she approves. "Come on in."

We walk in and I immediately smell the wonderful aroma of Ma's cooking. Damn, it's good to be home! "So, what, no Billy today?" Ma asks. She's probably the only person in the world that calls him Billy.

"Um… No, not today," I say. "He's otherwise occupied."

"Too busy for me now that he turned on you, or just afraid I'll knock him upside the head with my rolling pin?"

Gracie laughs. "I like her," she says.

"Definitely the latter, Ma. He _knows_ you'll kick his ass," I say.

"Damn right! Shame on him!" Ma understands kayfabe and she's just joking, but if only she knew… She's got no idea about the supernatural and I'd like to keep it that way. She's safer.

We sit down at Ma's table and she serves up the most delicious food I've ever tasted. Gracie definitely seems to agree as she eats a healthy amount herself.

Gracie's phone rings and she excuses herself from the table. "I like her, Eric. She's sweet, and the sense of humor's strong in that one," Ma tells me.

"Yeah. I like her, too," I say with a laugh.

"Is everything okay with you and Billy? You seem upset."

"We're fine, Ma. It's just… Work's been stressful lately." That's the truth for damn sure.

"Well, try not to get too caught up in it, Eric. Stress is no good for you." She kisses me on top of my head before walking away to get dessert.

Gracie comes back in looking freaked out. "What's wrong?" I ask her.

"Don't worry about it," Gracie says quickly.

"You know I will. Just tell me."

She sighs. "That was Lexy. She's in a bit of trouble."

"Why?"

"Lesnar's been following her around and being a creep since everything happened. He's trying to make a point of showing her he's everywhere and she can't get away. You know Lexy doesn't scare easily, but she did finally get sick of him stalking her, so she sort of let loose with the lightshow and… Well… Lesnar had a seizure."

"Wait… She did _what_?"

"She started flashing him with a bunch of different lights until he literally went into a full-blown seizure. Lesnar's fine, but Paul was pretty pissed at her."

"She was defending herself. Lesnar's dangerous, and he already tried to fucking _rape_ her, Gracie! Who knows what will happen if he gets his hands on her when no one's around to shoot him in the head?"

"Who are we shooting in the head?" Ma asks as she returns. This isn't an entirely weird conversation. Ma's used to random violence being part of our conversations sometimes. It's just a neighborhood thing.

"No one," I say quickly.

"Eric… Should I worry?"

"Nah, you're too pretty to worry. You're gonna get all wrinkly." I kiss her cheek. "We're fine, Ma. No worries."

She nods, assuming I'm just using the expression again and don't mean I'm literally going to shoot someone.

After we finish dessert, it's time to go. I hate leaving, but I know it's better. It's dangerous to spend too much time here right now. I could lead Team Baddie right to my Ma, and I'd never forgive myself if she got caught in the crossfire of a supernatural battle she knows nothing about.

 _ **GRACIE**_

We get back to the hotel pretty late. I am really glad I got to meet Eric's mom. She's awesome.

"You should check on Lexy," Eric says.

I nod. He's right. I head to her room. "Hey, Lex," I say when she opens the door.

She looks at me and I can tell something happened. "Are you alright?" I ask. I notice a nasty cut on her lip and my eyes go wide.

"I'm okay," she says. "Better than the other guy."

" _What_ other guy?" I ask.

"I got jumped by Raj. It's no big deal."

"No big deal?!" I stare at her. "Are you hurt? I'm gonna fucking kill him…"

"Gracie! I'm fine. Calm down."

"What the hell happened?"

She lets me into her room and I sit on the bed, freaking out. Lexy offers me a soda, which I take on autopilot.

"So, basically, Stephanie's pissed I attacked Lesnar, since he's supposed to be main eventing the pay-per-view tomorrow. She sent Raj after me as punishment," Lexy explains.

"Raj is a 'roid-raging monster!" I say in horror.

"Yeah. I figure that's why Stephanie thought he'd make a good substitute for Lesnar. Anyway, Raj tried to sneak up on me, but I knew he was there. I _always_ know. So I turned around and I knew I was screwed, and I said, 'Come at me, bro!'"

"You're not even joking, _are_ you?"

"Nope. He looked at me funny, then charged… So I tripped him. He hit his head."

"You… _tripped_ him?"

"I improvised, yeah. Anyway, he was pretty pissed, and he attacked again. I wasn't too worried… Raj is a lot of things, but he's not a rapist, so he's one up on Lesnar. I knew he'd never cross that line, so I figured I could handle anything else he threw at me. He tried to attack a few more times, but I'm quicker than he is. I finally ducked as he charged me again, and he hit a wall at full speed and knocked himself unconscious. So this cut on my lip? It's literally my only injury. I'm okay."

"But Stephanie sent a monster to attack you… Why aren't you more freaked out?"

"Because I outsmarted said monster with quick-thinking and quicker reflexes, and that's kind of awesome. I'm okay. I walked away. That's all that matters. She won't do it again. It would be a waste of her resources."

"Okay, fine… But I'm still worried about you."

"Don't be. I'm good." She pauses. "Okay, I lied a little… I'd rather not sleep alone tonight, Gracie. Just in case."

"Say no more. I'm crashing."

She hugs me. "Thanks."

"Any time."

I can't believe Stephanie pulled this shit… Yet I actually _can,_ because that's who she is. Still, I don't like that she sent Raj after Lexy. It could have ended up a lot worse. I look at my friend and I'm grateful she's safe. I try not to think about what could have happened, because the only thing that matters is she survived the attack and she's in good shape. I decide to heal her lip. Lexy doesn't protest, and we relax before finally curling up together on her bed and falling asleep.

 _ **BILL**_

I'm doing significantly better tonight. It turns out I didn't have as much to process as Randy, Colby, and Jules thought. Casey already helped me a lot. After Randy and Jules leave to get some rest, Colby stays with me.

"Will I ever stop feeling guilty?" I ask him.

"No," he says. "Not fully."

I look at him and ask what I've been afraid to. I don't want to upset him, but I need to know someone gets what I'm dealing with… Betraying the best friend you call brother is impossibly hard to cope with. "Colby… What really happened with you? I mean, I know some of the details, but the specifics… No one talks about them."

Colby hesitates. Finally, he sighs. "You need to hear it. You, more than the others…" He shakes his head. "I did a lot of horrible things right after they turned me, Bill. You saw the violence on-screen. You saw how badly I physically hurt Joe and Dean, and they were so confused… Neither one understood what had happened. After the show, my body ran off… And went to the house we're in right now. This safe house wasn't always safe… It was hell. It was the darkest place in the world, and I made it that way… I took Serena." I know Serena's the girl Joe and Dean both care deeply about who Matty fried into possibly never functioning again. "I didn't hurt her in the traditional sense… I used my telepathy, and I slipped into her head, and I made her believe she wanted to be mine… Serena was still young, but she had a crush on me. I knew that. I used it. So while I was gentler with her than I could have been, and while for her, it didn't seem like it… Technically, my body raped her. And that's very hard for me to deal with, because I love that girl. I did so much to try to protect her… I took care of her when no one else was paying attention… Serena forgave me immediately, and it helped, but… But it's still hard to deal with, especially with how she ultimately ended up."

"That's awful," I say. I don't bring up the other part. I wait for Colby to go there.

"The worst thing, though… The thing I'll never forgive myself for… Was what happened to Aria." His voice cracks at her name. "She was just a baby… And she brought so much light to us all."

"I don't know much about this," I admit. "No one talks about her."

"It's too hard… It's kind of crazy how it happened. One day, Bryan of all people came across her. He likes kids, and he knew Vince had her, which couldn't be good… So he started talking to her, and she saw Dean on TV… And she said, 'hey, he looks like my dad.' Bryan immediately made the assumption that Dean was Aria's brother. The thing was, at the time, Dean was still evil. When the Shield first came up to the main roster, we were all Vince's bitches. I hated it… I would do what he wanted, and then I'd cry because I hurt someone and it was so against my nature. I was never evil. Joe and Dean handled the darkness better. They tried to protect me from the worst of it, and especially from Vince and his wrath… But then Joe fell in love with the girlfriend Vince had essentially given to me… And when she almost died from venom, Joe called out to Serqet knowing she'd recognize his soul and he would probably get smited, but he didn't care. He saved her life. And although he had betrayed him, the head of his pantheon, who his soul had been hiding from since before entities began incarnating, forgave him. He let him go and gave him a chance, and Joe rose to the occasion. He immediately became good, and he stole my girlfriend." He laughs sadly.

"That's low," I say.

"She's his soul's consort. It was meant to be… Besides, I loved her dearly, but more like a sister. She meant the world to me. She's the one whose head I got stuck in trying to help her… But she was meant for Joe. Anyway, as soon as Joe left, I was like, 'hey, we can _do_ that? I'm _so_ in!' And I joined Team Good. Taker accepted Joe right away, and he realized pretty quickly that I was relatively harmless and let me prove myself to him, and he accepted me, too. But Dean… Dean wouldn't join us. He was furious we'd left him behind. Mostly, he was terrified because he didn't think he could ever be good. He knew Team Good would never accept him. He even hurt Serena, and that meant Joe wouldn't accept him, either. I was terrified there was no hope for him because he wouldn't even try, but I didn't give up on him."

"You were brothers."

"Exactly. Anyway, Bryan saw this little girl and he took a risk. Of all people, Bryan was the one who thought, 'hey, maybe we can give Dean one last chance.' And he left that sweet little girl with Dean. Within minutes, Dean was extremely attached to the kid. Here with this little girl who, as it turns out, was his baby sister. She was eight and defenseless, and Vince had kept her hidden from him to use as a weapon when it suited him. Aria was young and a bit traumatized, but she was a tough kid… She was sarcastic, too. Dean loved that about her. She made him laugh, and as soon as she did, this little slither of light forced its way into his heart and he knew he had to protect her… And that meant leaving Vince. He took her and he left Team Vince, and he never looked back. Bryan's one act of trust really saved Dean from the dark side. We all fell in love with her immediately. April took her out as her tiny sidekick for a day and came home with a puppy. Cody turned the puppy immortal… That pug that's always growling at Dean that he acts like he hates but he obviously adores? That was Aria's puppy. Ariane got really close to her, too. She had the kid saying 'Girl, Bye,' and all of that. She had a background in social work, so Dean basically asked Ariane to be her shrink, and she was happy to do it. Anyway, it turned out that Aria was sick. Vince had ignored the symptoms, but she had brain tumors and a lot of other issues… Dean was terrified, but he took care of her. He took her to the hospital and she was getting treated… And she was under lock and key, but one of the people Dean trusted betrayed us." He shakes his head. "Ariane kidnapped her from the hospital and brought her to me… And I…" He shakes his head again. Colby is crying now.

"Colby… It's okay. You don't have to talk about this," I say. I feel how much pain he's still in.

"No… I do. You need to know. You're not like the others, Bill. You're stronger. And you deserve to know the entire story of how this happened."

"So what happened?"

"I killed her." He's still crying. "She fought me, even with how sick she was, so I literally squeezed her head until the issues inside all basically ruptured… I crushed her head… It was horrible and painful and… And I could hear it. I could hear every thought she had as she died, but I couldn't stop myself because I wasn't in my body… I couldn't do anything… I couldn't save her. I murdered my best friend's baby sister… The kid who literally saved him from the dark side… _I_ did that."

"Colby… It wasn't your fault. You weren't in control of your body. It was a shell."

"Exactly. Just like when you did what you did." He shakes his head again. "She died in Dean's arms. He got there just after it was too late to actually save her, and Dean hadn't found his superpower yet… He couldn't heal yet. He found out he could do that a little while later, when someone else he loved almost died, and he refused to let it happen again. Anyway, Dean broke. He literally shattered. His friend, the one who helped him make this safe house, came running when she found out what had happened. Dean looked at me, and he knew what he had to do, but he couldn't… He couldn't kill me. And I turned around, and there was Joe, with a knife… And he looked at me with the fiercest look he's ever had, but I also saw his tears… He said, 'I'm sorry,' and then he shoved a knife into my chest where my heart should have been. It shouldn't have killed me, but it was a magickal knife, and even though I didn't have a heart to stab, it put me down. I was dead… And he apparently held my body for a minute after, but he didn't cry. Joe didn't let himself cry until after Dean was better and I was fixed and healed. He held himself together for us. When he finally broke, it was bad."

"I had no idea it was so horrible…"

"Dean really lost it for a while. He was ready to kill himself. I think the only thing that stopped him was the fact that he'd somehow created a safe house and he knew people needed him… He stuck around for Serena, and his friend Mara got him through it… She's the one that fried Corey Graves. Anyway, he was in bad shape. He told everyone to call him Jon, because he couldn't connect to Dean anymore without all of the pain that went along with it. You know Dean's in bad shape when he goes by Jon. He hates that name. Anyway, he figured out Ariane was evil, and that Trinity had suspected and never told us… He actually banned Trinity from his house, and Johnny and Josh cut her out for a bit because they were pissed… But Trinity wasn't evil, and eventually, Johnny took her back and they worked things out. Ari, though, was kicked out of our lives for good, and ultimately, she got released from WWE and was no longer our problem. It took them three weeks to fix my body. Cody had to work endlessly to figure it out, and they found my heart with TJ, and my soul…" He hesitated. "My soul was hidden in the Forgotten Land. It was the absolute worst place Chaos could keep me, and he didn't just keep me stored in a jar… He took me out. He tortured me. Three weeks felt like three centuries… I… I shattered. My mind completely broke. I took Randy and Jules with me through all of it… Being turned, the things I did after, the torture of my soul… They're the only ones who know everything that happened to me, and we never talk about it because it's too hard… I think the only reason they didn't lose their minds along with me was because they had each other to ground to."

"The Forgotten Land… That's where Nikki and Brie were."

"Yes. Vince routinely goes through there looking for new recruits for his army… But he wasn't coming through when I was there. I like to think Vince would have saved me, bad guy or not. He views me as one of his. He wouldn't just let Chaos take me away. It's a horrible place… A place no one should ever be… And the things Chaos did to my soul… I wish I could forget, but he made sure I remembered it all." He's trembling.

"Colby… Maybe you should stop."

"I fought to stop them from cutting out my heart. I struggled like I've never struggled before. I didn't know what was happening. I thought they were going to kill me… But then I heard their thoughts and I knew it was so much worse… I tried so hard to stop it, but I couldn't. Chaos wanted Stephanie to be the one to cut out my heart, but she didn't have the stomach for the ritual. It freaked her out too much. She actually ran out of the room in tears. Nikki, though… She was hardcore. She volunteered and she did it… And you know how that feels. It was done to you. I don't have to tell you. But they weren't good at it yet. They were new to the ritual. I was the first… So it took longer, and I bled more, and they had to torture me before they could even get me down… It took _hours,_ Bill. Hours of being tortured over and over, and having them take turns seeing who could fuck me up worse… And when it was over, and they pulled my soul out, the torture didn't stop. Chaos doesn't do that anymore. He just keeps the souls stored… But he told me mine was special… I was his first… And he wanted to play with me." Colby's hyperventilating now.

"Colby, it's okay… It's over. It's been over for a long time," I say. I touch his arm and Colby calms down. He looks at me.

"I get it now… You're a redeemer, Bill. Your light is so strong it even makes people who never wanted to be light want to change. It saves people. That's why he wanted you… And it heals wounds…" He looks at me curiously and asks, "May I?"

I shrug. "Okay," I say.

Colby touches my forehead and I know he's in my mind, but he's not looking through my memories… He's showing me his. Everything he's just told me flashes through my head. The things he can't go into detail about are there, too. And suddenly, he's not crying anymore. I see him in my mind, and he's filled with light.

He pulls away. "Jesus…" He whispers. "I feel like a darkness I never knew was weighing me down just exploded into pure light."

"Is that… _good_?" I ask.

"It's incredible…" He shakes his head and laughs. "Thank you, by the way… I think you just healed something in me that no one's been able to touch."

I look at him, and I see it. He's lighter… He looks more like he used to, before what happened. It's subtle, but powerful. " _I_ did that?" I ask.

"Yeah, Bill. You did… And now I know why he wanted you more than anyone else… Because even after being turned and tainted forever by his darkness, your light is too powerful to stop."

"What does that mean, exactly?"

"Your heart is the purest of all… It's why you literally _always_ do the right thing when it counts. It's why you saved Nikki… I saw it in her mind, before you ask. It's why you feel bad that Gracie hurt Leah even if she had it coming… And it's why, even though you were turned, you were able to split your soul so he couldn't touch part of you… You preserved that pure light. There's a part of you he never touched, a part that can never be tainted even by force. You're the _one_ , Bill. The strongest heart he's ever found."

"How screwed does that make me?"

"He'll keep coming for you… But you'll keep fighting, because that's who you are. And in the end, it should be enough."

"Enough to what?"

"Enough to save whoever you're meant to. You can't save everyone, Bill. No one can. But you _can_ make a difference. And you will."

"No pressure or nothing…"

"No, none at all." He laughs sadly. "I understand how you feel there. I'm the one who can track his victims. I'm the first person he turned and the first to come back. I'm basically cursed, but that's okay. I've learned to embrace it and help people."

"I can't believe you came back from all of that… How did you cope with it?"

"I was catatonic for weeks. I didn't function. My doppelganger was very much employed for months because I couldn't do anything. That's why my promos turned to shit when I was first heel turned." He laughs and shakes his head. "My poor little doppelganger tries so hard, but he flubs a lot… Anyway, finally, I began coming out of it… Joe was there for me, and Dean… Dean made it clear he never blamed me… He cried his eyes out begging me to come back, because we were brothers, and he'd lost a sister and couldn't lose his brother, too… And I fought my way back to them. It was hard as hell, but I did it. When I started to try, I let Jules and Randy help me, because they were in my head anyway, and they got me to a point where I could respond to Joe and Dean… And eventually, I was me again. I was broken, and I was terrified, but I was in control. I didn't trust myself, though. I refused to step into the ring for a while. Dean and Joe had to coax me back in slowly. Eventually, I adjusted… And life went on, hard as it was… And I worked hard to find a purpose in the world. I fought for the light. I found out I could track the others, and it helped… It gave me a reason to fight. And I haven't stopped fighting since."

"Thanks for telling me all of this. I know how hard it was for you. I can feel it."

"It's okay… You helped me today, Bill. I set out to help you, but I guess it became a mutual thing."

I'm relieved I've managed to do something useful, but I'm also freaking out. It's kind of scary to think I'm special to Chaos, a genuine threat and not just a random minion he felt like collecting. I just hope I'm not as screwed as I think I am.


	10. Chapter 10

**CHAPTER TEN**

 _ **ERIC**_

Everything is calm. Bill is doing a lot better. Gracie's ready for her big match. Things are finally normal. So, naturally, something completely nuts happens.

My phone rings. "Yo," I answer.

"Have you seen the news yet?" Dean asks.

"No... What's wrong?"

"Chaos tried to kill Shane. His helicopter fucking crashed into the ocean today."

"What?!" I ask. "Is he alright?"

"Yeah. Him and the pilot were unharmed. Either the protection spells we have on him did their job or the sheer power of his bloodline saved him. The only things that will survive a nuclear holocaust are cockroaches, Twinkies, me, and the McMahons... And I ain't sharing my Twinkies."

I laugh, but I know he's serious about that. "What can I do?"

"Use that big mouth of yours and spread the word. Every last one of us needs to triple our efforts. If you have a parlor trick, use it to protect him."

"I like Shane and all, but why does he get so much more protection than everyone else?"

"Because, Dumbass, he's the only member of that family with a soul. He was born into all that evil but it never tainted him. He's as pure light as a McMahon can be, and we need him. He's the only one who can take on both Vince and Stephanie. He's key to the balance. He can't die."

That makes sense. "Okay. I'll get the word out." I start calling people. Everyone is relieved Shane's unharmed, but we know this means serious trouble.

I hear something in the hallway and open the door. I'm startled to see Stephanie with a death-grip on Thomas's throat.

"Which one of you was it?" She demands.

"I didn't do anything," Thomas chokes out. I don't understand why he's not defending himself. Stephanie's not that strong.

"Tell me who did or I'll make you bleed out of every single orifice until you die!" I wonder if she can actually do that. It sounds impressive. No one's too clear on what Stephanie's actual powers are. She tends to guard that sort of information.

"Stephanie, _please,_ I don't know! As far as I know, Shane's off-limits."

"He _is._ It was part of my terms when I joined. No one kills my brother."

"I swear it wasn't me... Maybe Harper or Braun did it."

Stephanie releases him. "Adam doesn't have the balls or the power." She pauses. "Harper, however..."

"You know he doesn't like rules that tell him no."

She finally notices me. "What do _you_ want?" She demands.

"Same as you. I want Shane safe," I say.

She nods. "He's fine. Between the spells on him, my magick, and his own, he walked away without a scratch."

"You worked magick to save him?"

"He's my _brother!"_ She snaps at me. Stephanie is a ball of rage and other emotions right now and her power is flowing around her wildly. I understand now why Thomas is so afraid of her. I also see a hint of who people tell me she used to be in there as I catch the fear in her eyes.

"He's tough, Stephanie," I say gentler than I planned to. Right now, I feel bad for Stephanie. "He's going to stay perfectly fine."

Suddenly, Vince McMahon materializes. He grabs Stephanie hard and slams her against the wall. "You traitorous little bitch!" He shouts.

Stephanie is startled and clearly terrified. "Daddy, wait-" she begs.

He slaps her hard across the face. "How could you? And so _publicly?_ You know better! An accident looks good on paper, but it makes our family look weak! We don't just roll over and die in plane crashes!" I have to bite my tongue to keep from pointing out this was a helicopter, not a plane.

"Daddy, I didn't-" She's practically in tears, but somehow, she holds them back.

"Shane is the only one of you worth a damn!" Vince slaps her again. I've seen enough. I'm about to do something incredibly stupid when someone does it for me.

"Get your hands _off_ of her!" Bill says, easily prying them apart.

"Who the _fuck_ do you think you _are?"_ Vince demands.

"Someone who doesn't put up with men putting their hands on women," Bill says firmly.

"You _do_ know who I am, right?"

"Yes, Sir, I do."

"And you still did this? For _her?_ The bitch who let Chaos and your little whore cut out your heart and rip out your soul?"

"Yes, Sir, I did."

"I could fire you or destroy you... Yet you didn't hesitate. Are you still being controlled by Chaos?"

"No, Sir, I'm not."

Vince shocks us both by laughing. He claps his hand against Bill's shoulder. "You've got balls, Kid. I respect that." He looks at Stephanie. "Did you try to kill your brother?"

"No. I helped save him," Stephanie says softly.

"I see. Well, then... Go to make-up. They'll make your cheeks pretty again." He looks at us. "Gentlemen." He nods and leaves. I shake my head. I got nothing.

"Are you alright?" Bill asks Stephanie.

She stares at him. "You actually care, don't you?" She asks. "Why?"

"I can't seem to help myself," Bill says with a shrug.

"Thank you, Bill. That was very brave of you... And kind." She shakes her head. "I see why he wants you... And why Nikki saved you."

"He's your father. He has no right to put his hands on you, or any other woman."

"You're a good man, Bill. For the record... I'm sorry."

I'm pretty sure Stephanie apologizing is a sign of the apocalypse. Still, I think she means it. From what I've heard, very few people ever have the balls to stick up to Vince and save her from his wrath.

"Come on, Bill," I say. "We got shit to do." I figure he can help me get the word out about Shane.

 _ **ONE WEEK LATER...**_

 _ **GRACIE**_

It's been a crazy few days. I love traveling with the main roster. The build-up for this storyline with the boys and Leah is really going well. The fans are excited. Everyone's paying attention to WWE right now because Shane very publicly survived a helicopter crash and now people really believe he's immortal. The publicity is great for business.

"I hope you're ready," a voice says to me. I spin around.

"Hey, Mercedes," I say to Sasha Banks. We're not especially close, but I'm not going to be rude. I know Mercedes has a reputation for being a bitch, but she's never done anything to me.

"Leah fights dirty. She'll rip your head off if she has the chance."

"I can handle Leah."

"Yeah, everyone thinks that until she puts them out on injury. She's not just a bitch, she's a chronic botcher. I have no idea whose dick she sucked to win that Money in the Bank match... Twice, at that... Just be careful, Gracie. I'd hate to see her end your career before it starts."

"My career started a long time ago. On the indies. Like yours."

"None of that counts. You'll be defined by your WWE matches, not that indy garbage." She looks at me and I think she realizes how close I am to punching her in the face. "No offense. You're great, Gracie. Really, you're very talented. It's just that most fans don't follow the indies."

"The best fans do."

"Look, I'm just concerned about you."

"Thanks, but I can handle myself. Excuse me."

"Wait! Please..." I shake my head, but I pause. "How's Pam?"

I'm not sure how to answer that. "She's safe," I say. "That's all I know."

"She's my best friend, you know."

"So call and ask her yourself."

"Look, what happened to her is just... It's awful. I'm worried."

"How do you even know?"

"Harper likes to brag. I overheard him talking about it."

"She's trying, Mercedes. It's not easy. That's why her doppelganger has been working for her. Call her if you want any other details. She'll talk if she wants to." I walk away wondering why the hell Mercedes cornered me. Am I just being paranoid or is she up to something? I know Lexy hates her, legitimately, out of character. It makes me wonder what type of person she really is, but as far as we all know, she's a loyal member of Team Good. Not everyone on Team Good is a nice person, but they do all believe in doing the right thing when it counts. I'm probably being biased because Lexy despises her. I try not to over-think things as I go get ready for my match.

 _ **BILL**_

Tonight, I have to step into the ring with Leah, with our bastard step-child James Ellsworth in our corner, and face my two best friends while pretending to hate them and love her. It's hard to handle, and it's going to require the best acting I have ever done in my life.

Leah's arm is looped through mine as we enter. She's so familiar, but the joy this sort of thing used to give me has turned to raw pain and disgust. I struggle not to throw up. It doesn't help that when we reach the ring, she steals a kiss. I pull away as quickly as I can without giving away how badly I want to be anywhere else.

"I miss you," she whispers against my ear before allowing me some space. I do not share the sentiment.

Gracie comes out with Eric. She's not holding his arm. She isn't throwing herself at him for the cameras or the fans, but it's clear from how they move in sync that they are a couple. Their love is genuine and untainted. She never betrayed him. She never cut out his heart and turned him evil. She never chose power over love.

The bell rings. I can't breathe. "Bill... You're starting," Leah whispers urgently. I still don't move. "Baby..." She looks at me with alarm.

"I'm _not_ your baby," I practically spit at her. Realizing the fans can hear me, I add, "You're mine." I'm back in character now. I approach Eric. This part's easy, and it gets me away from Leah. Eric and I wrestle and it's a familiar dance. We anticipate each other's moves perfectly. I back him into his corner. Gracie tags herself in. She kicks me once in the chest with an impressively high superkick. I tag in Leah, because intergender wrestling isn't really allowed in WWE anymore.

Leah does not hold back. She's been itching to get revenge on Gracie since the parking lot incident. She hits her with everything she's got. Luckily, Gracie's got more. Leah can't actually hurt her much.

It's a fun back-and-forth between all of us that erupts into insanity when James grabs Gracie's leg to pull her off of Leah one of the times she pins her. Eric attacks James, and I can tell he's enjoying getting to kick his ass.

Leah tries to separate them. Eric hits her once. I know he'd like to do more than that, but he's staying on script because Paul already told us any deviation would be the end of our careers. Gracie and Eric are disqualified and I have to pretend to comfort Leah before James and I help her up the ramp.

"That was great," Leah says.

"Yeah, whatever," I say. I walk away to find Gracie and Eric.

"When's our rematch?" Gracie wonders aloud.

"Next week," Eric says.

"Are you guys okay?" I ask.

"I'm fine," Gracie says. "She hits like a bitch."

"I saw her botch that submission... She tends to mess that up. You covered it well."

"I'm a professional." She smirks at me.

Suddenly, my phone rings. I look at the Caller ID and answer. "Hey, Nikki," I say. "What's up?"

"Bill... It's Jess," she says.

"Why do you have Nikki's phone?" I ask nervously.

"She ran out of here in a hurry and left it... After Ashley called her."

"Ashley?"

"Yeah, as in Charlotte. Sorry, she's Bram's ex and he never calls her Charlotte, so I'm used to using her real name."

"What happened?"

"She didn't tell me... She just left. I think she's in trouble. John tried to track her and he can't. She's cloaking herself." She pauses. "I get the impression you're the one person on Team Good who'd go after her."

"I'll find her," I say. "Thanks for telling me." I hang up.

"What's up?" Eric asks.

"Nikki may be missing. She got a call from Ashley and ran off. Jess thinks she's in trouble, and John can't find her."

"Let's go," Gracie says.

"You guys want to help?" I ask.

"Nikki's loyal to you," Eric says. "That makes her family."

I nod. We head out. I don't know where we're going, but I feel a pull in my heart and I follow that.

We arrive at a warehouse eighteen minutes later. What we see next is pretty terrifying. Ashley is propped up against a wall. She's been beaten to a bloody pulp. Her left eye is swollenn shut. Her face, arms, and clothes are covered in blood.

Gracie immediately runs to her. I'm about to when Eric taps my shoulder and points ahead of us.

There are bodies everywhere. Several look uninjured, but they are unconscious. Others are severely burned. Raj is covered in blood, but it's not his. He is holding a knife that's also bloody. I suddenly see a vision in my head so strong it nearly knocks me out.

 _Nikki saw everyone surrounding Ashley. They were torturing her. She was trying to fight, but she was in bad shape._

 _"Tell us where he is and this all stops, Ashley," Harper said._

 _"Never!" Ashley cried defiantly._

 _Harper laughed. "It's more fun for me this way anyway."_

 _Nikki showed herself, grabbing Adam and kissing him. She took on his powers, gaining strength and telekinesis. She flung several of the bad guys into walls without touching them. Harper put a shield up around himself, Ashley, and Thomas._

 _"We'll just use a more fun form of torture," Harper said. He unzipped himself . Thomas followed suit and Ashley let out a whimper, finally starting to break after what must have been several hours of torture._

 _At the same time, Raj came up behind Nikki and slit her throat. She was bleeding out too quickly. She'd never survive it. Except..._

 _Nikki fed off of the new sexual energy in the room. She flung it all at Harper's shield, knocking it down and knocking him out in the process. She had no strength left, but there was a solution to that. Thomas stood in shock as Nikki approached him. It creeps me out to be experiencing this from Nikki's point of view, especially since I know where this is heading. She literally grabbed Thomas by his junk and started doing things most men_ wish _Nikki Bella would do to them. She grew stronger as she fed off of him, not holding back as she took what she needed to survive. She left Thomas with only an inch of his life force._

 _Her throat had healed. Her power was out of control. Her body burst into flames as she began to burn everyone who'd dared cross her or Ashley._

I can't believe what I just saw. I've never had visions before, but I'm positive it was accurate. I frantically search for Nikki and find her still covered in flames. Her eyes are glowing the color of embers and she's radiating too much power. I try to approach her.

"Bill, wait!" Eric warns.

"She won't hurt me," I insist. I reach toward her. "Nikki-"

Nikki starts to burn brighter. She's worked herself into quite a state. "Nikki, you need to focus... I know you're in there," I say.

She glares at me with her fiery eyes. I stare into them. "Nikki, it's me... It's _Bill._ You don't have to fight anymore. It's over."

Recognition flashes on her face. "Bill..." She whispers. Suddenly, she releases the power. The flames vanish and she collapses into my arms.

"Is she okay?" Eric asks, his eyes wide.

"I think she just needs to rest," I say, trusting my instincts. I carry her easily. Her victims still aren't moving. We make it back to Gracie and Ashley easily.

"I healed what I could," Gracie says, "but she needs Heath or Taylor."

"I'm alright," Ashley says shakily. That's clearly not true. "Is Nikki hurt?"

"She'll be okay. She wore herself out," I say.

"Come on, Ashley," Eric says. He lets her lean on him as we head out to the car. I know where Heath's hotel room is, so I drive us there. Eric and Gracie bring Ashley upstairs while I get Nikki to the one place she'll be safe... Team Redeem's headquarters.

 _ **GRACIE**_

Watching Heath heal Ashley is pretty interesting. At the sight of her, he curses, then immediately sets to work. "Any man who puts his hands on a lady ain't no man at all," he says angrily. "Just hang in there, darlin'. You're gonna be just fine."

Her wounds start to vanish. I'm good at healing, but Ashley's in very bad shape. She needs someone with unbelievable skill in this area. Heath keeps talking to her, trying to keep her calm as he repairs the damage they've done.

"They're after my dad," Ashley says. "They wanted me to betray him."

"They are aware you _left_ the dark side, right?" Eric asks.

"They swear they can get me back... But I'm never doing that again." She looks haunted. Technically, Ashley is on Team Redeem, but Team Good's pretty accepting of her because she's Ric Flair's daughter and they trust him. Ashley briefly controlled her father and influenced him with evil and Chaos, but ultimately, Ric was able to fight to free himself and to get through to his daughter with Bram's help. Ashley had walked away and never looked back.

"Why do they want Flair?" Heath wondered aloud. "Then again, why _wouldn't_ they?"

"They wouldn't tell me... They just figured they could torture me until I told them what they wanted to know. I called Nikki when I realized I was about to be ambushed... I was desperate, and I hear she's trying to walk away. We're friends. I figured she'd help... But things got so out of control... And I was hurt so badly, and Raj slit Nikki's throat, and they... They were going to..." She doesn't say it, but we all know what that team does to women. "Nikki saved me. I feel awful... She's hurt because of me."

"Nikki's strong," I say. "Give her a few hours and she'll be fine."

"Don't you worry about anyone but yourself right now, Sugar," Heath says. "You need rest... And so do I."

"I'll get Ashley back to her room," I say. "And if you want, I'll spend the night."

"You don't have to," Ashley says, but I can tell she's desperate for someone to watch her back tonight.

"I want to," I say firmly. She nods, and I am suddenly bunking with Ric Flair's daughter for the night. Life as a professional wrestler can be weird sometimes.


End file.
